Prussian General and strategist Carl von Clausewitz’s dictum, “War is the continuation of politics by other means” was demonstrated from 6/7th May to 10th May 2025, during the four days war between Pakistan and India.
Both the nuclear armed neighbors entered into the conflict with stark opposite objectives. In a competition between arrogance and resilience, India attempted to set a new normal while Pakistan vehemently denied it.
Interestingly, till 6th May 2025, Pakistan appeared to be struggling to establish its mark on the global geopolitical and geostrategic arenas. The ball to favorable transformation of regional and global geopolitical environment was set rolling right on the onset of the military operations (between the night of 6th and 7th May 2025) when India lost its military pride (Rafale, SU-30MKI, Mig-29, M-2000) to the daring air warriors of Pakistan Air Force (PAF).In fact, it was the continuation of PAF ‘s professional ascendancy of 27 February 2019 over the Indian Air Force (IAF) when two front line IAF fighter jets were shot down by the PAF and Wing Commander Abhinandan was captured. During the next four days of war, IAF was grounded and PAF consolidated its victory by destroying BrahMos storage depots, two S-400 sites and neutralizing number of IAF Air Bases.
In modern-day warfare, it was a huge and unprecedented victory that transpired into multitier effects across a number of geopolitical and geostrategic domains for both Pakistan and India. To count a few for India; (i) notion of invincibility was shattered; (ii) false sense of security defeated; (iii) national narrative of strong man got eroded; (iv) technological, military, interoperability and information warfare limitations got exposed; (v) mantra of net security provider shaken; (vi) USA’s trust as counter weight to China seriously ruptured; (vii) attempts to look for space for limited war under nuclear overhang got defeated; (viii) foreign military hardware manufacturers annoyed; (ix) civil-military rifts surfaced; (x) notion of ‘strategic autonomy’ badly jolted; (xi) questioned India’s future role in BRICS, SCO and Quad; (xii) aspirations to lead global south and win permanent seat in the UNSC challenged; (xiii) ambitions to become manufacturing hub and attract Foreign Direct Investments (FDI)badly damaged; (xiv) suffered severe political backlash and criticism against the political and military leadership; (xv) main stream electronic media globally discredited; (xvi) had to regress from ‘no talks with Pakistan’ to requesting a ceasefire.
Conversely, the four-day war redeemed Pakistan into a military powerhouse and attracted unprecedented attention and support of the regional and global powers. China was particularly happy and satisfied with Pakistan on reasons comprising but not limited to: (i) extremely professional and successful conduct of one of the most complex and fiercely contested air battles by the PAF; (ii) defeating and destroying the Indian war machine; (iii) exhibiting the technological and strategic superiority of the Chinese military hardware over the western competitors; (vi) showcasing to the western apologists that Pakistan was the peer competitor and good enough player to counter balance India, let alone China; (v) and establishing the credibility of Chinese military hardware and opening flood gates for its global demand. In a futuristic development, media reports suggest that China intends to further equip PAF with 5th Gen Omnirole Fighter Aircraft, very long range BVR missiles, Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS), Electronic Warfare (EW) platforms, High to Medium Air Defense System(HIMADS), hypersonic SSMs, High-Power Microwave (HPM) drone destroyers, Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs), drones and cyber warfare capabilities to count a few.
On the other hand, witnessing India’s unimaginable setbacks, the USA-led West abandoned its earlier stance that the ‘bilateral issue can be mutually resolved’ and swiftly intervened to announce a ceasefire. The USA, previously in a go-no-go indecisive pre-war position, initiated dialogue, offered trade incentives, and invited Pakistan’s military leadership to the White House. Encouraged by Washington’s positive tilt towards Islamabad, Indian efforts to place Pakistan on the FATF grey list were thwarted, while International Financial Institutions extended crucial support for economic revival. The USA also began hyphenating Pakistan with India as a peer competitor and offered to mediate on Kashmir, thereby internationalizing it as the main dispute—a bitter pill for India’s Prime Minister. Since 10 May 2025, President Trump has repeatedly highlighted his role in brokering peace between Pakistan and India and even sought to co-host Pakistan’s Field Marshal and PM Modi during the latter’s G-7 visit to Canada on 16 June 2025—an initiative Modi avoided.
Pakistan also received renewed honor and respect from the Muslim world as the victory of 6/7 May 2025, was celebrated by the people from number of Muslim countries all across the globe with joy and happiness. In the same regards, Pakistan took the center stage during the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting on 22 June, 2025 to discuss Iran Israel conflict. India was particularly unhappy with the diplomatic isolation it had to face when joint statement of meeting of Defence Ministers of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)issued on 26 June 2025, condemned militant activities in Balochistan and despite Indian efforts, did not mention Pahalgam. India was also diplomatically isolated when it stood alone in its differing stance on Israeli aggression against Iran.
This short war re-wrote rules of the game and re-defined parameters of power politics in South Asia. PAF not only introduced doctrinal innovations but also afforded opportunities to explore newer diplomatic avenues. On one hand, India under the influence of exaggerated geopolitical relevance, false sense of military superiority and western exceptionalism, dared to misadventure whereas, Pakistan on the other hand, audaciously denied the attempted new normal and re-established deterrence, and restored strategic stability in the region. Resultantly, India suffered geopolitical and geostrategic backsliding while Pakistan resurged in regional and global settings as the relevant player and reliable regional security stabilizer in South Asia.
—The writer is a retired Air Officer from the PAF and currently serving at the DHA Suffa University (DSU), Karachi.
