Pakistan’s bellicose army chief is playing with fire

7 comments

1. I think this one of the first western pieces that throw a good chunk of blame of Pakistan??

2. The author, Ayesha Siddiqa is of Pakistani origin, and has a deep understanding of the Pakistan Army’s structure and influence. I suggest her books to anyone interested in understanding the Pakistan Army – *Military Inc.: Inside Pakistan’s Military Economy*

3. Tl;dr:- Pak army boss is an old school hardliner. Sees india as enemy #1. Called Kashmir India’s jugular 1 week before the Pahalgam attack. Unlikely to back down at a time when Pak economy is in the doldrums. He’s pitched against Modi, another strongman, also unlikely to back down. Pak civilians are conditioned to be ignorant of the extremists in their midst. No major powers are really pressuring India/Pak to deescalate.

   Round 0 – Pahalgam attack

   1. India attacked with missiles. Pak took out Indian aircraft.
   1. Pak sent over drones
   1. India sent over drones
   1. Pak barraged Indian cities with drones and missiles which were taken down by air defense. (Night of May 8).
   1. India did nothing much afterwards.

   Logically, this should have been it, had they been deescalating. Pak had the last word and should have been done with it.

   But night of May 9, there’s even more ariel attacks over Indian cities. Missiles and drones. Mostly taken down by air defense. 1 family injured so far. Seems like Pak army doesn’t want to stop till they inflict real damage. Unlikely that India won’t respond to this round. Things could get uglier.

4. What’s Pakistan’s game here? Force India into a massive response and generate international condemnation on India? Or are they simply caught up in their own bravado and can’t back down?

5. He talks more like a terror handler than a general

6. Ha! Label opinion pieces as such.

   Pakistan was always going to respond to a violation of their sovereignty at this scale. You don’t strike into another sovereign nation and not expect a response.

7. This is a perilous moment for both India and Pakistan, who are now caught in a cycle of provocation with dangerously combustible personalities at the helm. While PM Modi may himself be a calm, calculating Machiavelli, the ecosystem around him is teeming with far-right RSS nationalists who are emotionally volatile and unhinged as far as Pakistan is concerned. If Pakistan escalates in a way that leads to significant Indian casualties, these actors won’t just demand retribution – they will bay for decisive, possibly unprecedented action to resolve the Pakistan question once and for all. We are living in very dangerous times.

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