When Pakistan launched Operation Bunyan al-Marsus in response to India’s audacious Operation Sindoor, the intended message was resilience, deterrence, and retaliatory prowess. Instead, it unfolded as a high-profile unravelling of Pakistan’s failure in conventional deterrence, its political-military coherence, and its international credibility. In contrast, India’s well-calibrated military response to the Pahalgam terror attack redefined the rules of engagement, exposing Pakistan’s deepening vulnerabilities — political, military, diplomatic, economic, social and internal fissures.
India’s Precision, Pakistan’s Panic
India’s Operation Sindoor was surgical and pre-emptive — a display of non-contact warfare leveraging drones, loitering munitions, and stand-off weapons to destroy terror infrastructure across Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and beyond. Over 100 militants were neutralised in the strikes, which Indian sources described as ‘punitive but measured’. Pakistan’s initial reaction was confusion, oscillating between denial and claims of minimal damage, before announcing Bunyan al-Marsus as a retaliatory move.
Despite the Qur’anic inspiration behind the operation’s name — ‘The Unbreakable Wall’ — Pakistan’s counterattack amounted to a clumsy mix of drone and missile launches largely neutralised by India’s layered air defence, including the Russian S-400 system. India’s decades of capability building showcased by its military prowess, particularly the integrated multi-tiered multi-layered AD grid and competence in warfare of ‘precise mass, ensured minimal casualties/damages, while Pakistan’s confused mass ‘doctrine of panic and desperation’ lost steam. On the contrary, India intercepted drones, downed ballistic missiles, and jammed Pakistan’s aircraft and incoming electronic warfare attempts.
Information War Over Ground Realities
With no tangible battlefield success, Pakistan’s only remaining battlefield was the digital one. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Pakistan military’s media wing, flooded social media with manipulated videos and exaggerated claims — including footage of downed ‘Indian jets’ and ‘massive retaliatory damage’ to Indian cities. The Chinese collaborated on the deepfake AI front but most unsuccessfully. These were quickly debunked and embarrassed by open-source intelligence analysts and global media watchdogs, revealing a clear reliance on information warfare to cover strategic ineptitude.
Even Pakistani journalists and civil society voices began questioning the credibility of their military’s narrative, a rarity in a country where dissent is often stifled. This reflects a growing realisation: Pakistan’s generals may be skilled at narrative manufacturing, but that cannot substitute for operational competence or geostrategic planning.
The Crumbling Pillars of Pakistan’s Internal Order
The failure of Bunyan al-Marsus also exposed deep rifts within Pakistan’s power structure. The once-sacrosanct military establishment is facing unprecedented internal dissent. Dissatisfaction with the tremors of the coup, so traditional with Pakistan, remained visible and gained visibility after General Asim Munir’s controversial elevation and crackdown on the opposition, which turned into visible discontent following back-to-back failures in counterterrorism, economic management, and now conventional warfare.
Pakistan Army (De-facto Armed Forces) is an Islamist (Jihadist) Army with competence in proxy war and narrative warfare. The motto of the Pakistan Army is “Iman, Taqwa, Jihad fi-Sabilillah” (Faith, Piety, and Struggle in the Name of God). The Jihad is the war against infidels and is oriented towards India. Denial and victim card their national anthem.
Pakistan’s civilian leadership remains effectively neutered. The caretaker government, formed after months of electoral chaos, acts more as a rubber stamp for Rawalpindi’s directives than an autonomous policymaker. Political polarisation, coupled with the suppression of opposition figures like Imran Khan, has only deepened the democratic deficit.
Economically, Pakistan is on a life support ventilator; thanks to the IMF’s 24th tranche of loan ($1 billion + $1.3 billion) to further fund its concealed utilisation for terror. With external debt above $130 billion, rampant inflation, and a depreciating rupee, the war footing has only worsened its fiscal trajectory. The IMF programme — once a lifeline — is now under review amid concerns that military adventurism could derail economic stabilisation. Foreign direct investment has plummeted, and sovereign credit ratings are under pressure.
Insurgencies and Fragmenting Control
Beneath the headlines of cross-border conflict lies Pakistan’s greatest existential threat: internal disintegration. Baluchistan is in revolt. Following the Jaffar Express hijacking and subsequent crackdowns, thousands marched in Quetta and Karachi demanding justice, only to be met with brute force and enforced disappearances. The arrest of human rights activists like Dr Mahrang Baloch has further alienated ethnic Baloch populations.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) continues to attack with impunity and inflict casualties through guerrilla warfare. The region is witnessing a resurrection of anti-state sentiment, with security forces’ convoys frequently ambushed. The ‘Eastern Front’ with India has long served as a diversion for these internal crises, but Pakistan’s attempt to revive that playbook has backfired spectacularly.
Indus Waters Treaty Held in Abeyance: India’s Strategic Signal
In a historic move, India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty in April 2025. Though symbolically potent and strategically restrained (since water diversions take years), it was a bold diplomatic manoeuvre. By doing so, India signalled that bilateral agreements cannot survive amidst persistent cross-border terrorism. Pakistan’s fears of water insecurity — especially in Punjab and Sindh — have been reignited, with agriculture and food security now caught in a broader national security vortex.
Global Fallout: Isolation, Not Sympathy
International reaction to Operation Bunyan al-Marsus was swift and damning. Far from rallying support, Pakistan found itself increasingly isolated. The United States, while brokering the eventual ceasefire, privately reprimanded Islamabad for escalating tensions after Indian strikes targeted only non-state actors. European nations, already wary of Pakistan’s duplicity in counter-terrorism efforts, expressed grave concern over the reckless use of drones and missiles near populated areas. It only gained sympathy by playing the victim Islamic card with Turkey and Azerbaijan, who supported terroristan.
Financial institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF have paused disbursements pending a reassessment of Pakistan’s fiscal credibility and military spending. Even China—Pakistan’s ‘iron brother’ — issued a restrained statement urging calm and dialogue, conspicuously avoiding open support. China indulged in strategic messaging and nothing more than being in a geopolitical flux. However, China successfully helped Pakistan by diluting the UNSC resolution by not naming it in terror attacks and also negating the communal card of Pahalgam. The Gulf States, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, remained, by and large, neutral — a far cry from the unconditional solidarity Islamabad expected.
In multilateral fora, India seized the moment to reframe the narrative. At the UN and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), New Delhi renewed its campaign to label Pakistan as a habitual sponsor of terror, leveraging the global outrage over the Pahalgam attack and Islamabad’s retaliatory misfire.
Prognosis: Asymmetry in Motion
The strategic landscape post-Sindoor and Bunyan al-Marsus is decisively tilting in India’s favour. New Delhi has demonstrated the capability to deliver punitive strikes without provoking uncontrolled escalation — military prowess in multi-domain high technology warfare. Its focus on stand-off weapons, integrated air defence, military leadership and real-time intelligence feeds has matured into a credible doctrine of non-contact compliance.
Pakistan, meanwhile, is stuck in a time loop — recycling military false bravado and jihadist proxies in a world that has moved on. The real danger is not escalation, but implosion. The state’s inability to tame its peripheries, fix its economy, or unite its polity is fast becoming a national security crisis in itself.
Conclusion: Pakistan’s Wall of Sand
Operation Bunyan al-Marsus was not an ‘unbreakable wall’ — instead, it was a brittle facade. A desperate response to a calibrated Indian strike, it revealed more about Pakistan’s internal decay than its external resolve. India’s message was clear: the threshold of tolerance for cross-border terror has lowered, and responses will be swift, smart, and limited — but firm.
Pakistan now stands at a crossroads. It can either introspect, reform, and rebuild, or continue down a path of strategic irrelevance, internal strife, and global suspicion. But one thing is certain: the old deterrence playbook no longer works. And for Rawalpindi, the game has changed — not on its terms, but on India’s.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the views of the Government of India and Defence Research and Studies
Title Image Courtesy: Money Control
Article Courtesy: Raksha Anirveda
