In my last article, I predicted that an India-Pakistan conflict could be expected in the coming weeks, and it didnât take long to unfold. India escalated tensions with Pakistan, expecting another controlled skirmish that could spin as a political victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling BJP government.
However, India’s so-called “strikes on terrorist camps” triggered a chain of unexpected events that completely exposed its military vulnerabilities, collapsed its narrative, and left it dealing with diplomatic embarrassment in front of the entire world.
On the other hand, Pakistan controlled the escalation ladder, retaliated proportionately, and showed strategic restraint when it was most needed. In this follow-up article, I’ll explain how this four-day conflict was far more consequential, where Pakistan rewrote the playbook, and India again overplayed its hand.
Pakistanâs Air Dominance Caught India Off-Guard
The opening move came late at night on 6/7th May when the Indian Air Force (IAF) launched Operation Sindoor to carry out unprovoked air strikes with standoff weapons inside Pakistan, which resulted in civilian casualties, including seven children. Their primary objective was to hit symbolic targets near the Line of Control (LoC) and build a political narrative that India had destroyed alleged “terrorist camps” inside Pakistan.
The script was the same as the 2019 Balakot strikes, when the Modi government ordered “surgical strikes,” celebrated killing imaginary “300 terrorists”, and won the national elections on this narrative. Back then, there was no civilian or infrastructure damage as the IAF jets dropped payloads on an uninhabited forest area and escaped when intercepted by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF). That was one of the reasons the PAF responded with restraint on 27th February 2019, only shot down two IAF jets during the dogfight, and captured one Indian pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan, who was later released as a peace gesture.
But the dynamics were different this time, and the Indian political and military leadership wasn’t prepared for this.
According to this 2023 special report by the United States Institute of Peace, after 2019, Pakistan extensively modernized its fighter fleet with advanced AESA radar and weapon systems, inducted 4.5-generation Chinese-built J-10Cs, and drastically upgraded its electronic warfare and signal intelligence capabilities. This is something important that the Indian military planners had underestimated. So, when the Indian jets flew from the air bases in large numbers, the PAF was already watching and waiting with its air defense.
Within seconds of the first strike on the civilian targets, the PAF engaged a large number of Indian formations and shot down five IAF jets in successive beyond visual range (BVR) engagements, including three much-hyped Rafales, one SU-30MKI, one MiG-29, and one Israeli Heron UAV. According to the 9th May press briefing by the PAF’s Deputy Chief of Air Staff, AVM Aurangzeb Ahmed, this aerial conflict lasted “over an hour,” and it was the “largest aerial battle” since World War II, as more than 70+ IAF jets and 40+ PAF jets participated in the action.
The loss of Rafales is a âdeep embarrassmentâ for India that was relying on the French jets to face off with rival Pakistan
đ https://t.co/KfiZLdS7qi pic.twitter.com/oM1N1NMeMEâ TRT World (@trtworld) May 8, 2025
Pakistan demonstrated its electronic warfare (EW) capabilities, jammed enemy communications, disrupted radar lock-on, and created confusion among Indian pilots. For the first time, the world saw how Pakistani pilots flying Chinese J-10C fighter jets with PL-15 missiles, backed by a data-linked network, can easily dominate a 3-times larger enemy air force that always boasted its air superiority in the region.
Getting five of its modern aircraft shot down within an hour wasn’t something the Indians expected, and of course, they didnât acknowledge their losses. However, digital signatures, multiple open-source footage, and intercepted chatter of one of the Indian Rafales, “Godzilla-4”, played by the AVM Aurangzeb Ahmed during his press briefing, confirmed the damage.
It was a decisive first blow that sent New Delhi into a complete panic mode, and its shockwaves made international media headlines. The way Pakistan Air Force dominated the skies on 6/7 May forced the IAF to put its fighter jets back in the hangars and rely on drone swarms and artillery fire over the next two days.
Indian Media Trapped Itself in Its Own Lies
There’s no doubt that disinformation campaigns play a part in building early narratives in modern warfare, as we’ve seen in the Russia-Ukraine war. However, there’s simply no competition against the Indian media and social media accounts when it comes to spreading fake news.
By 9 May, the jingoistic Indian media machine had already kicked into full gear. Hypernationalist media anchors, BJP-affiliated analysts, and retired military personnel stood beside maps and fake footage, announcing a decisive Indian victory over Pakistan.
For several hours, Indian media channels continuously played air raid sirens with every single update, claiming the megacity Karachi had been âobliteratedâ by the Indian Navy, and Lahoreâs âseaportâ had been destroyed, only to realize later that neither the Indian Navy dared to enter Pakistani waters, nor Lahore is near a sea, forget a seaport.
But it didn’t just stop there.
Prominent Indian anchors presented AI-generated videos and video game clips as âlive visuals.â Hindutva right-wingers nearly conquered the entire Pakistani territory on social media platforms. And so-called defense experts blatantly portrayed disinformation campaigns as a part of their âpsyops.â
The war hysteria and the competition for viewership on the Indian side were so high that they even went on to make absurd claims like Pakistan’s Army Chief, General Asim Munir, was arrested in a coup, Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, went into hiding in a bunker, and Indian tanks had crossed the Pakistani border. In reality, all the Indian military could do was send loitering munitions and drones, all of which were shot down or soft-killed.
Of course, the Pakistanis weren’t sitting idle either, and many of them did exactly what the Indians were doing on social media. But in a broad spectrum, clearly, the Indians completely won against Pakistan… in spreading fake news.
More than a psyops or information warfare, in my opinion, what the Indian media did throughout this evolving conflict was state-sponsored delusion. And it won’t be wrong to say that all of this could happen without a green signal from New Delhi.
The propaganda, meant to create panic among Pakistani civilians, actually fooled Indiaâs domestic audience. The overall execution was high-decibel, laughable, and sloppy. International news channels mocked it, serious power circles worldwide took notice of the Indian jingoism, and well-known analysts condemned the Indian mainstream media channels.
Pakistan didnât even need to respond to such claims, as Indian citizens began exposing the lies themselves.
This isn’t a one-off godi media circus that some sane Indians are feeling ashamed of today. It’s another deliberate and failed psyops attempt by the lunatics sitting in Delhi. For years, India has orchestrated fake news, false-flag narratives, and cinematic war hysteria for media⌠https://t.co/1zkThDZzbr pic.twitter.com/LtzsZTIYMC
â Shaiq Uddin (@shaiquddin) May 9, 2025
The mask fell within hours. The world started to realize that a Hindutva-inspired India was another nation besides Israel that celebrated war and glorified the killing of innocent children. The soft image of a democratic “Shining India,” built over the decades through Bollywood movies, collapsed completely. And what was meant to boost public morale and “hypernationalist mood” became a huge embarrassment for India on the global stage.
Pakistan Strikes Back, Ceasefire, and ISPR Briefing
While there was so much hype and propaganda on the Indian side, the Director General of Pakistan’s ISPR, Lt. General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhary, made a chilling statement during a press conference on 8 May:
“When Pakistan will strike, we won’t need Indian media to tell. The whole world will know…”
And that’s exactly what happened when the Pakistan Armed Forces launched Operation Bunyaanum Marsoos (an Arabic phrase from the Holy Quran, meaning a solid, fortified structure) at first light on 10 May.
The international media immediately picked up visuals and showed how Pakistan breached Indian air defense and struck 26 military targets in broad daylight, including various air bases, brigade headquarters, and missile storage facilities. The PAF executed deep-penetration strikes on India’s prized S-400 air defense radars, while the Pakistan Army fired a series of Fatah-I and Fatah-II rocket artillery targeting Indian military installations. At the same time, Pakistan’s electronic warfare capabilities disrupted the IAF’s aerial coordination and blinded their forward units. The IAF, still reeling from losses on May 6/7, was immediately forced into a reactive posture.
Within a few hours of Pakistan launching its brutal retaliatory strikes, the Indian Foreign Secretary, along with two female military officials, Colonel Sofia Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, came before the Indian media and stated:
“The Indian Armed Forces reiterate their commitment to non-escalation, provided it is reciprocated by the Pakistan military.”
This statement signaled that the Indian military and political leadership didn’t expect such a devastating counteroffensive from Pakistan and wanted to de-escalate the situation. At the same time, reports emerged that President Donald Trump had intervened to call an immediate ceasefire on both sides. However, the Indians were unwilling to accept that their country, a self-proclaimed “Vishwaguru” (Global Leader), could agree to a ceasefire like that.
But what came next shattered the Indian narrative, resulting in a huge public outcry.
The Indian Foreign Secretary, Vikram Misri, appeared before the media in the evening and announced the ceasefire decision. The Indian public was blindsided. Until that moment, the media told them their side was winning. Now, without any ceasefire talks, the India-Pakistan conflict was over, and it looked like New Delhi had tapped out.
The entire Indian media went into a frenzy, and the right-wing Hindutva supporters of PM Narendra Modi were outraged by the government’s abrupt decision.
Whatâs becoming increasingly evident is the growing frustration among Indian citizens and media following their government’s unexpected call for de-escalation and agreement to a #ceasefire just hours after Pakistan launched coordinated retaliatory strikes at first light today,⌠pic.twitter.com/L3M1x1GeP8
â Shaiq Uddin (@shaiquddin) May 10, 2025
Interestingly, CNN reported on the same day that Washington had received âalarming intelligence,â which compelled the US government to intervene and call for a “full and immediate ceasefire.â However, the Indian Foreign Secretary did not mention the US intervention during his ceasefire announcement. At the same time, it was evident that Pakistan had dominated the battlefield with its aerial, ISR, and electronic warfare superiority, forcing the Indians to accept the ceasefire.
Over the past two days, I’ve been very curious about CNN’s report that the US had received “alarming intelligence” during the India-Pakistan war.
What was so urgent and critical that Washington intervened directly and pushed for an immediate ceasefire, breaking all the⌠pic.twitter.com/AmJ2Ans7oq
â Shaiq Uddin (@shaiquddin) May 12, 2025
Pakistanâs tri-services spokespersons followed with a composed and detailed press briefing on the next day. In answer to a question, DG ISPR confidently confirmed that India had officially requested the ceasefire via backchannel intermediaries and that the operation had successfully ended on Pakistanâs terms.
On the flip side, the Indian officials continued denying the US intervention, although President Trump had publicly posted the ceasefire announcement on Truth Social before the Indians officially made an announcement.
This second blow to India was psychological, filling the gap between their media fantasies and strategic reality. For four days, Indian newsrooms had manufactured a version of events where India was in control, its military unchallenged, and Pakistan on the defensive. But the moment New Delhi announced a sudden ceasefire without any visible victory and any retaliatory cost imposed on Pakistan, that entire illusion collapsed.
A Diplomatic Meltdown with Iran
Just when India could have used a moment of maturity to offset the military and narrative collapse, it shot itself in the foot on the diplomatic front, too.
On 8 May, Iranâs Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi was in New Delhi for the IranâIndia Joint Commission. The meeting was important as Iran had positioned itself as a mediator between India and Pakistan, engaging both sides while regional tensions were peaking. Tehran attempted to stabilize the situation behind closed doors and avoid another flashpoint in a region already reeling from Middle East tensions.
But instead of reciprocating with diplomacy, the Indians responded with disrespect.
Gaurav Arya, a retired Indian Army major turned full-time warmonger on YouTube, published a video during Araghchiâs visit in which he launched into a rant and made derogatory remarks about the Iranian FM. Since his tone was aggressive, communal, and deliberately inflammatory, as usual, the video went viral instantly across Indiaâs hypernationalist segment. And Aryaâs audience, which includes millions of followers who cheer for war and bloodshed like itâs a cricket match, lapped it up.
But Iran took this disrespect very seriously. Within hours of the India-Pakistan ceasefire announcement, the Iranian Embassy in New Delhi picked up the video and responded publicly on X:
“Respect for guests has a long-standing tradition in Iranian culture. We Iranians consider our guests to be “beloved by God.” How about you?”
It was a calculated diplomatic rebuke from Iran in a subtle and sharp manner. The message wasnât just directed at Gaurav Arya, it was aimed at the entire Indian state. And what followed next was embarrassing. The Indian Embassy in Tehran quickly distanced itself from Aryaâs remarks, issuing a public clarification and offering what was effectively an apology. But the damage was done, and global media widely reported the story.
This is precisely what I explained in my X post as well. When national discourse is hijacked by hypernationalist media actors and warmongers pretending to be analysts, foreign policy becomes collateral damage.
This is exactly what Pakistan’s civil and military leadership has warned the world about, from the Musharraf era to the most recent @OfficialDGISPR briefings. But the average Indian remains trapped in a delusional echo chamber, blindly swallowing whatever the godi media,⌠https://t.co/bWn2DKy8sj pic.twitter.com/1UPl3t4cvK
â Shaiq Uddin (@shaiquddin) May 10, 2025
Gaurav Arya isnât a fringe voice in India. He has millions of followers and is a frequent guest on jingoistic news channels like Republic TV and Times Now. More importantly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi follows him on X, which indicates how characters like Gaurav Arya receive the endorsement of the ruling government. This isn’t surprising because the Indian deep state encourages these paid actors to inject belligerence into public sentiment and distract attention from real domestic failures.
But this time, it didnât just backfire. It exposed how reckless Indiaâs narrative machinery has become. Abbas Araghchi wasnât a random foreign guest. He was a high-level figure from a country that India relies on for energy diplomacy, regional balancing, and backchannel access to many countries. Yet even that wasn’t enough to shield him from a public insult on Indian soil.
Pakistan didnât need to say a word. India humiliated itself once again. A moment that could have been used to project restraint, maturity, or even regional leadership turned into another international embarrassment.
Final Thoughts: Pakistan Let India Collapse on Its Own
From the very beginning of the India-Pakistan conflict, the Pakistan Armed Forces didnât escalate recklessly. In fact, they didnât need to. The response on 10 May was calculated and proportionate, and it sent a clear signal to every regional and global observer that Pakistan would respond with precision when provoked. It demonstrated air dominance, deployed its electronic warfare playbook, and showed strategic restraint once the message had been delivered.
And that was the real difference. Pakistan acted like a state with a defined military doctrine, while India reacted like a government chasing the media optics.
DG ISPRâs tone was calm and composed, without dramatic declarations or warmongering. Just short, confident statements grounded in facts. This was perfect signaling where Pakistan’s military and political leadership calibrated the message, controlled the tempo, and left no space for misinterpretation. Every word from Islamabad served a purpose and proved who dominated the escalation ladder.
In contrast, Indiaâs entire communication strategy imploded and collapsed under the weight of its own theatrics. What started as chest-thumping quickly spiraled into absurdity and embarrassment. National media channels aired video game clips and unrelated footage while prominent anchors, analysts, and military veterans declared fictitious victories. And when the Indian foreign secretary abruptly announced the ceasefire, the same channels went silent. The gap between perception and reality became too wide to manage, especially among the BJPâs support base and its military wing, RSS.
By the end of the conflict, India had suffered several self-inflicted setbacks. It lost five fighter jets within hours during the initial exchange, exposing vulnerabilities it couldnât publicly admit. Its own citizens began dismantling the propaganda and calling out absurd claims made by their news channels. The BJP government quietly accepted a US-brokered ceasefire that it had requested behind closed doors, contradicting the aggressive posturing fed to the domestic audience. To top it off, India was forced to issue a clarification to Iran after one of its prominent right-wing influencers insulted the visiting Iranian Foreign Minister during peace talks.
Despite all the media hype and a wider reach than Pakistan, the Indian government couldn’t convince the international community. The world watched what happened, and the contradictions in the Indian mediaâs false reporting were clearly visible. India entered this confrontation thinking it would control the escalation, but it ended up losing control of its military, media, and narrative. What was supposed to be a quick show of strength to rally political support ended in a strategic and psychological defeat.
But in my honest opinion, this ceasefire is just a pause. The drivers that triggered this escalation remain fully intact. Indiaâs domestic instability and security failures in occupied Kashmir, the Hindutva regimeâs obsession with optics, and its need to constantly manufacture threats for political gain havenât gone anywhere. In fact, the risks of another major conflict between the two nuclear-armed countries have significantly increased.
This ceasefire may have closed one chapter, but it has opened another. The next India-Pakistan conflict isnât a matter of if but of when. And when it happens in the coming months, itâs unlikely to be limited to drone swarms or cross-border strikes. It could be deeper, more destructive, and far more unpredictable.
India wanted a win but got a wound that won’t heal easily. And while Pakistan took control of the first round, both sides know this story isn’t over yet.
