Pakistan has long relied on nuclear sabre-rattling as a shortcut to global relevance, its military establishment clinging to its supposed arsenal like a magician guarding an empty hat. Each time tension brews with India, Islamabad dusts off its nuclear rhetoric, hoping to induce international panic and pre-emptive peace missions. The trouble is, no one is buying it anymore.
In an age where satellites can read the serial number off a Jeep’s bumper, it stretches belief that the United States, Israel, or other military heavyweights haven’t pinned down Pakistan’s exact warhead locations – if they exist at all. If real, they have become the most undetectable weapons since Iraq’s mythical WMDs. If not, it is simply theatre: the geopolitical equivalent of shouting ‘I’ve got a bomb’ on a crowded train while holding a tiffin box. Or, more pointedly, like a madcap waving a stone and mistaking it for power, unaware that the other side is a disciplined, armoured force with the competence to crush and move on.
Wrong time, wrong PM
The real miscalculation is not just the emptiness of the threat, but its timing. Islamabad is still behaving like it is the Nineties, oblivious to the fact that it is 2025 and Narendra Modi is in charge of India’s response. This is not a prime minister who exchanges dossiers while being threatened. This is a government that has, time and again, demonstrated both intent and capability – from surgical strikes in Pakistan-occupied territory to precision air raids deep inside enemy lines.
Empty threat syndrome
A nuclear threat against such a regime is not a deterrent – it’s an accelerant. Any strike or even serious posturing would likely result in a swift and overwhelming conventional response. Not nuclear, because India doesn’t need to scorch the earth to make a point. News feed shows its army, air force and strategic assets are now well-equipped, well-drilled and guided by the quiet confidence of a rising superpower. Going by India’s resolve, the retaliation would be sharp, decisive, and brutal – and entirely deniable on the world stage.
Consequences are real
If Pakistan ever attempts to turn its nuclear bluff into action, the fallout will be most severe on its own soil. The world may express concern, but behind closed doors, few tears would be shed. China would offer a muttered warning about regional peace, but its investments in CPEC would take precedence over moral support. The West would issue statements, but privately acknowledge that Pakistan had it coming.
Meanwhile, ordinary Pakistanis – long fed on a steady diet of anti-India posturing and nukes-as-national-pride – would be left picking up the pieces of an economy already teetering, a leadership in disarray, and a military that mistook outdated doctrine for strategic wisdom. When bluff meets competence, only one walks away intact. And India, under Modi, isn’t just prepared!
