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 came together to defeat the malevolent aims of an aggressor and displayed courage, unity 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 at 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 using dual-use, nuclear-capable BrahMos cruise missiles in a conventional role – an extremely bold and provocative act for a nuclear power – indicating Indian hubris and disregard for acceptable norms of human rights as well as the laws of war. This gross irresponsibility as a nuclear state was matched by the sententious rhetoric of the Indian leadership that tried to justify the indefensible. The most serious Indian mistake was to cross the Rubicon of deterrence stability, introducing dangerous instability in the subcontinental nuclear equilibrium.
By firing nuclear-capable cruise missiles across the international border, India had encroached on 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 the deterrence were ever breached. In fact, another nuclear commentator, Martin Van Creveld, had categorically stated that “nuclear strategy is no strategy but pure deterrence”. Had Pakistan not responded effectively, Indian hubris could have widened the conflict further.
Unfortunately, India is yet to learn from its humiliation in Marka-e-Haq and is busy reorganizing its armed forces for ground penetration through terrain-optimized and mission-specific combined arms, brigade-sized groups like Rudra brigades, Bhairav light commando battalions, Shaktiban artillery Akashne air defense regiments, the Ashni Drone air defense regiments, employment regiments. ‘Cold Strike’ concept aimed at superficial territorial incursions to create the appearance of victory.
The casus belli for the Indian attacks on the night of May 6 was the alleged Indian false flag operation at Pahalgam, a tourist spot in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), where 26 tourists were gunned down by unnamed militants.
The objective of the Indian false flag operation and the simultaneous aggression against Pakistan was to project Pakistan as a terror-sponsoring state and to impose a war to force Pakistan to make concessions at the negotiating table. The aggression was also intended as a blow to Prime Minister Modi’s electoral prospects ahead of the crucial state election in Bihar.
India’s violation of international law by unilaterally suspending the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) was also an ulterior motive which was brought to life on 23 April after the false flag operation in Pahalgam on 21 April 2025.
However, the Indians got a shock of their lives when Pakistan responded strongly through air and ground reprisals. The crowning achievement of Pakistan’s response was the shooting down of seven high-performance Rafale jets on 7 May. The shocked Indian armed forces resorted to cluster munitions attacks, targeting Pakistan indiscriminately, and on 9 May launched another wave of cruise missiles and drone strikes against Nur Khan, Shorquikot, Pakistan, Rafael and Bholari airbases. Pakistan responded effectively, destroying 84 drones and disabling or misdirecting several missiles.
The main Pakistani response came on 10 May in the form of Operation Bunyanum Marsoos, in which 26 targets were attacked in IIOJK as well as in mainland India, including Uri, KG Top, Nowshera Brigade headquarters and air/military bases in Halwara, Sirsa, Ambala, Jammu, Mamun, Naliya, Pojj, Swala, Bhutrag, Bhu, Swala, Kill 50 Indian troops on the LoC alone.
The PAF destroyed several much-vaunted Indian S-400 missile systems and exposed gaps in the Indian air defense. After suffering severe losses and an economic hemorrhage worth $84 billion, the ravaged Indian leadership requested American mediation to end the conflict. The conflict resulted in an embarrassing defeat for Indian politico-military objectives, alongside reputational damage after being dubbed an irresponsible nuclear power.
Pakistan has emerged as the undisputed winner in the Marka-e-Haq, having thwarted India’s war aims of pressuring Pakistan through allegations of terrorism and military coercion to extract concessions at the negotiating table under the guise of international mediation. The military objective derived from this political objective was to attack alleged militant camps in Pakistan and deal a crippling blow to Pakistan’s military and economic potential to weaken the country’s will to resist Indian pressure.
Pakistan’s patient and responsible self-defense response that remained within international law earned it international goodwill and support. Its forceful yet measured retaliation through Fateh I & II guided missile artillery restored the balance of nuclear deterrence and forced India to reconsider its war aims and ultimately accept US-mediated ceasefire efforts. The shift in Indian attitudes was 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 Indo-Pak conflict, where a determined nation, courageous leadership and a better trained and motivated military leveraged technology-enabled network-centric warfare to defeat a much larger, yet poorly networked and platform-centric Indian military. Pakistan succeeded on multiple fronts – diplomatic, epistemic and military – to stand up to aggression and deliver a decisive response on the battlefield.
The strategic and diplomatic benefits of the Pakistani response, whose apotheosis was Operation Bunyanum Marsoos on 10 May, are realized in the form of increased international status and increased influence as a ‘security stabilizer’ in the region.
The author is a security and defense analyst. He can be found at: [email protected]
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Pakinomist.tv’s editorial policy.
