The 72-hour armed conflict named Marka-e-Haq was another finest hour in Pakistan’s history after September 6, 1965, when the entire nation united to defeat the nefarious aims of an aggressor, displaying courage, cohesion and maturity as a proud nation that valued peace but also knew how to defend its sovereignty.
On May 6, under the cover of darkness, India targeted civilian infrastructure in Pakistan in six locations – Ahmedpur Sharqia (Bahawalpur), Muridke, Sialkot, Shakargarh, Muzaffarabad and Kotli, martyring 36 innocent civilians, including men, women and children.
The attacks were launched by India employing dual-use, nuclear-capable BrahMos cruise missiles in a conventional role – an extremely reckless and provocative act for a nuclear state – demonstrating Indian hubris and disregard for acceptable norms of human rights as well as the laws of war. Added to this gross irresponsibility as a nuclear state was the sententious rhetoric of Indian leaders, attempting to justify the unjustifiable. India’s most egregious mistake was crossing the Rubicon of deterrence stability, thereby introducing dangerous instability into the subcontinental nuclear balance.
By firing nuclear-capable cruise missiles across the international border, India has thumbed its nose at Pakistan’s nuclear deterrent. Nuclear scientists such as Bernard Brodie and Thomas Schelling have emphasized the need to make nuclear deterrence credible by convincing the adversary that nuclear weapons would be used if deterrence were ever violated. In fact, another nuclear commentator, Martin Van Creveld, stated categorically that “nuclear strategy is not strategy but pure deterrence.” If Pakistan had not responded effectively, Indian hubris could have further spread the conflict.
Unfortunately, India is yet to learn the lessons of its humiliation at Marka-e-Haq and is in the process of reorganizing its armed forces for ground incursions through brigade-sized, terrain-optimized, mission-specific combined arms groups like the Rudra Brigades, Bhairav Light Commando Battalions, Shaktiban Artillery Regiments, Ashni Drone Platoons and Akash Prime Air Defense Regiments, using the concept of “cold striking” aimed at superficial territorial incursions to create a semblance of victory.
The casus belli of the Indian attacks on the night of May 6 was the alleged Indian false flag operation in Pahalgam, a tourist resort in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), where 26 tourists were shot dead by unnamed militants.
The objective of India’s false flag operation and concomitant aggression against Pakistan was to portray Pakistan as a state sponsor of terrorism and impose a war to force Pakistan to make concessions at the negotiating table. The assault was also aimed at giving a boost to Prime Minister Modi’s electoral prospects in the run-up to the important national elections in Bihar.
India’s violation of international law by unilaterally suspending the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) was also an ulterior motive, put into practice on April 23, following the false flag operation at Pahalgam on April 21, 2025.
The Indians, however, received a shock of their lives when Pakistan responded vigorously with air and ground retaliation. The crowning achievement of Pakistan’s response was the shooting down of seven high-performance Rafale jets on May 7. The shell-shocked Indian armed forces resorted to attacks using stray munitions, targeting Pakistan indiscriminately and on May 9 launched another wave of cruise missiles and drone strikes against Pakistani airbases at Nur Khan, Shorkot, Bholari, Jacobabad and Rafiqui. Pakistan responded effectively, destroying 84 drones and neutralizing or diverting several missiles.
The main Pakistani response took place on 10 May in the form of Operation Bunyanum Marsoos, during which 26 targets were attacked in IIOJK as well as mainland India, including Uri, KG Top, Nowshera Brigade Headquarters and air/military bases at Halwara, Sirsa, Ambala, Jammu, Mamun, Naliya, Kandla, Bhuj, Swatragh, Poonch and Rajauri, killing 50 Indian soldiers on the LoC. alone.
The PAF destroyed several vaunted Indian S-400 missile systems, exposing the shortcomings of Indian air defense. After suffering heavy losses and an economic hemorrhage to the tune of $84 billion, Indian leaders, tormented, requested American mediation to end the conflict. The conflict resulted in an embarrassing defeat of India’s political-military objectives, as well as damage to its reputation after being labeled an irresponsible nuclear state.
Pakistan emerged as the undisputed winner of the Marka-e-Haq, having effectively thwarted India’s war objective of pressuring Pakistan through accusations of terrorism and military coercion to extract concessions at the internationally mediated negotiating table. The military objective arising from this political objective was to attack suspected militant camps in Pakistan and deal a devastating blow to Pakistan’s military and economic potential in order to weaken its resolve to resist Indian pressure.
Pakistan’s patient and responsible self-defense response, in compliance with international law, has earned it the goodwill and support of the international community. Its powerful but measured retaliation using Fateh I and II guided rockets restored the balance of nuclear deterrence and forced India to rethink its war objectives and ultimately acquiesce to US-brokered ceasefire efforts. The change in Indian posture is a consequence of Pakistan’s effective conventional military response as well as its diplomatic and media strategy.
Marka-e-Haq is undoubtedly a watershed moment in the history of India-Pakistan conflicts, where a determined nation, courageous leaders and a better trained and more motivated army harnessed network-centric warfare through technology to defeat a much larger, but poorly connected and platform-centric Indian army. Pakistan succeeded on several fronts – diplomatic, epistemic and military – in resisting aggression and providing a decisive response on the battlefield.
The strategic and diplomatic dividends of the Pakistani response, the apotheosis of which was Operation Bunyanum Marsoos on May 10, are materializing in the form of enhanced international stature and increased influence as a “security stabilizer” in the region.
The writer is a security and defense analyst. He can be reached at: [email protected]
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policies of PK Press Club.tv.
