India is Waging an Asymmetric War of Endurance Against Pakistan

The Path to De-escalation Runs Through Washington

India blames Pakistan for escalating, while Pakistan blames India for escalating.

At least, that’s the message both sides want to tell their people, and the media in both nations continue to play along. Though on paper it feels like a full-blown war has broken out between India and Pakistan, a closer look reveals that both sides are engaging each other almost exclusively in an air-war—a war that is steadily escalating.

Neither side has resorted to mobilizing their ground troops. If that begins to happen, then we are definitely entering dangerous, irreversible territory. But I don’t see that happening. They might posture in that direction, but they will not pursue that path.

India has carefully escalated the conflict by expanding the scope of its air operations under Operation Sindoor. Precision strikes have now targeted locations deep inside Pakistan-administered Kashmir and even key military logistics hubs in Pakistan’s Punjab province. They have also hit Pakistani air-bases, likely targeting high value assets and air-defense. These actions are deliberate and highly calculated

Meanwhile, Pakistan is allowing itself to get dragged deeper into the conflict. In a desperate bid to demonstrate parity, it launched retaliatory airstrikes and missile salvos under Operation Bunyan-ul-Marsoos.

India likely has no intention to back off. In modern warfare, a nation’s ability to wage and sustain war is directly proportional to its economic strength—and this is a Pakistani weakness the Indian government has taken full note of and is actively exploiting.