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 neighbours 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 favourable transformation of regional and global geopolitical environment was set rolling right on the onset (between the night of 6th and 7th May 2025) when India lost its military pride to the daring air warriors of Pakistan Air Force (PAF). In fact, it was the continuation of PAF‘s historic professional ascendancy over the Indian Air Force (IAF). During the next four days of war, IAF was grounded and PAF consolidated its superiority by destroying BrahMos storage depots, S-400 sites and neutralizing a 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 counterweight to China seriously ruptured; (vii) attempts to look for space for limited war under nuclear overhang discouraged; (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) mainstream electronic media globally discredited; (xvi) and had to regress from ‘no talks with Pakistan’ to requesting a ceasefire.
Conversely, the four days war redeemed Pakistan and attracted unprecedented attention and support of the regional and global powers. China was particularly happy and satisfied with Pakistan for: (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 enhancing the global demand for the Chinese military hardware. 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 Defence 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, seeing the unimaginable bashing of India, the USA-led West had to regress from its initial stance of ‘bilateral issue can be mutually resolved by both countries’ and hurried to intervene and brokered the ceasefire. The USA, which was in a go-no-go indecisive situation in per-war scenario, initiated dialogue, offered substantial trade incentives and invited Pakistan’s military leadership to the White House for a one-on-one meeting. In the same regards, not only Indian attempts to include Pakistan in the FATF grey list were thwarted but International Financial Institutions (IFIs) also extended necessary assistance. The USA started hyphenating Pakistan with India as the peer competitor and offered mediation to the Kashmir issue thus once again internationalizing the Kashmir issue as the real bone of contention between the arch rivals.
Pakistan also received renewed honour and respect from the Muslim world. In the same regards, Pakistan took the centre stage during the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting on 22 June, 2025 to discuss the Iran-Israel conflict. India was particularly unhappy with the diplomatic isolation it had to face when a joint statement of the 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 global 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 is facing geopolitical and geostrategic backsliding while Pakistan has resurged in regional and global settings as the vital relevant player and reliable regional security stabilizer in South Asia.
—The author is a retired Air Officer from Pakistan Air Force and recipient of SI(M) and TI(M). Currently, he is serving as Registrar at DHA Suffa University.
