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Operation Sindoor: During Operation Sindoor, and the ensuing conflict that followed, India proved that it was a vastly superior military power compared to Pakistan. Indian Armed Forces, in a series of lethal, precise strikes, destroyed terrorists bases and military installations, including key airbases, deep inside Pakistan, causing significant damage to the enemy’s offensive and defensive capabilities.
However, despite the mauling by India, Pakistan ‘gained’ on several fronts, such as revival of public faith in the Pakistan Army and its radical Chief General Asim Munir, as well as a perceived surge in the popularity of the country’s civilian government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Contrary to the trend seen in many countries after they suffer a decisive defeat in a war, there is no public outrage in Pakistan against Army Chief Asim Munir or PM Shehbaz Sharif, primarily because Pakistani leaders have spun a false narrative of scoring a victory against India, which is being happily swallowed by the Pakistani masses.
For decades, Pakistan had unsuccessfully tried to take the Kashmir issue on the global stage, but the efforts were shut down by India which considers it as an internal issue, and vehemently opposes any third party mediation, something which Islamabad has always attempted to change.
Notably, US President Donald Trump, after announcing the India-Pakistan ceasefire last week, asserted that the two neighbors will also holds talks on wide range of issues, including Kashmir, at a future date.
However, New Delhi has reiterated that it won’t allow any mediator in bilateral issues with Pakistan, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi stating that future talks with Islamabad will only be related to Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) and terrorism.
Another major diplomatic win for Islamabad is that the United States now seems to consider both India and Pakistan, as well as their leaders, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and PM Shehbaz Sharif, as equals on the world stage, something which couldn’t be any farther from reality.
In his ceasefire announced, Donald Trump praised both Modi and Sharif, calling them “powerful, strong and smart leaders”, which implies that the US President is putting them on an equal footing. Addressing an investment summit in Saudi Arabia on May 13, Trump reiterated his comments about Narendra Modi and Shehbaz Sharif being “very powerful leaders, very strong leaders, good leaders, smart leaders”.
However, in reality Modi and Shehbaz are not equals in any way, shape or form. Narendra Modi won a third consecutive term as Prime Minister with significant majority, while Shehbaz Sharif essentially stole the election from incumbent PM Imran Khan, and came to power with the backing of the Pakistan Army after Khan was jailed.
Apart from demolishing Pakistan’s military power, India’s Operation Sindoor also devastated the already fragile Pakistan economy, with the Karachi Stock Exchange falling 6400 points and losing $2.85 billion. Many experts also claimed that Pakistan’s economy was bleeding $3.2 million per day as the India-Pakistan tensions escalated.
However, despite India’s protest and abstention, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on May 9 approved a $2.4 billion bailout package for Pakistan, which included $1 billion from the existing Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and $1.4 billion from the new Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).
Experts claim the IMF package was sort of a ‘quid pro quo’ from Trump to convince Pakistani leadership to agree to a ceasefire.
Its no secret that the Pakistan Army, especially its chief General Asim Munir, and the unpopular government led by PM Shehbaz Sharif was low on popularity and public confidence prior to the escalation in India-Pakistan tensions. But the Pakistani leadership used the conflict with India to stir up a wave of nationalism across the country, also helped promote political unity among the supporters of jailed ex-PM Imran Khan and the ruling PML-N dispensation in Islamabad.
Experts fear that Pakistan is likely to use the nationalist upsurge to crush the rebellion in Balochistan, especially as Islamabad has often claimed that Baloch rebels are sponsored by the Indian deep state and its agencies.
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