Once again, Pakistan is trying to roar after being mauled. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif’s boast that “chances of war with India are real” and that Pakistan would achieve “bigger success” in any future conflict is a bad joke told to a frightened audience. His outburst came in response to Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi’s blunt warning that any Pakistani misadventure “would end in its non-existence on the global map.” The difference between the two statements could not be starker — one flows from confidence, the other from collapse. India’s confidence is well-earned. The success of Operation Sindoor 1.0 — the four-day joint Army-Air Force retaliation after the Pahalgam terror attack — decisively broke Pakistan’s military spine. India’s precision strikes destroyed nine Pakistani air bases and nearly ten fighter jets, including four to five American F-16s and several Chinese-made C13 interceptors. All this devastation took just 22 minutes. The Indian Navy remained in reserve, ready to join if the conflict widened. In contrast, Pakistan’s response was reduced to silence, confusion, and now hollow rhetoric. Asif’s war talk is clearly a diversion from the crumbling morale of his armed forces and the growing chaos inside Pakistan. Balochistan is up in flames, and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is slipping beyond control. Reports indicate the Pakistani Air Force recently bombed its own citizens in Balochistan to crush uprisings — a grotesque display of weakness masquerading as authority. For a regime fighting itself, war talk is a convenient escape route from humiliation. And humiliation is all that Pakistan has been collecting. Its so-called “Field Marshal” Asim Munir — or “Failed Marshal,” as Indian analysts call him — seems more interested in business than battle. His recent appearance alongside discarded Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the White House, showing off samples of “rare earth minerals” from PoK and Balochistan to Donald Trump, was nothing short of national prostitution. They went to barter their nation’s mineral wealth for more F-16s and borrowed dollars. The tragedy? Those very F-16s were among the first to be reduced to debris in Operation Sindoor 1.0.
The United States, ever the opportunist, will keep arming Pakistan for its own strategic games. But it knows the truth — Pakistan today is a failing client state with a broken economy, an imploding society, and a military that cannot protect its own bases. Islamabad’s war cries are meant for home consumption, not for combat. Meanwhile, India’s military leadership is speaking the language of power, not provocation. Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh reaffirmed that the Indian Air Force is prepared “to go all out” to decimate Pakistan’s defence assets if provoked again. He revealed that during Sindoor 1.0, India neutralized multiple fighter jets, radar systems, and air defence networks — including Chinese models. His confidence is not rhetorical — it is operational. This time, however, India’s preparedness is of a different order. With the tri-service theatre command operational, any conflict would see seamless coordination of the Army, Air Force, and Navy. The Indian Navy’s dominance over the Indian Ocean ensures that no external power — not even the US — can meddle. The Taliban regime in Afghanistan has already denied Washington the use of its airspace, leaving Pakistan without a rear shield. China, Pakistan’s so-called “iron brother,” is unlikely to do more than issue statements. Beijing cannot risk an open confrontation when it is already locked in strategic tensions with the US. For once, both its rivals — India and America — may find themselves on the same side of the fence, at least tactically. The fact is, Pakistan’s generals know the truth: their state is collapsing faster than they can spin their propaganda. The army that once created jihadis now fears its own creations. Its economy runs on IMF oxygen and narcotic money. Its politics has been reduced to military puppetry. When Khawaja Asif says the “chances of war are real,” he’s right — but not in the way he imagines. The real war is within Pakistan, a war for survival. And India won’t have to lift a finger for its enemy to destroy itself. In the end, Pakistan’s only battlefield victory may be over its own illusions.
