Pakistan: Army, religion, and the enemy to the east

For decades, Pakistan’s strategic identity has been defined by its armed forces, religious ideology, and an enduring obsession with India. Following the historical execution of its “Thousand Cuts” doctrine, the region was permanently altered by the events of May 2025. This collection of essays from The Hindu delves into the profound aftermath of ‘Operation Sindoor’, dissecting how this climactic military engagement forced the nation to confront its deep internal contradictions and drastically alter its geopolitical trajectory.

Pakistan: Army, religion, and the enemy to the east reveals how the Indian military’s generational leap was ultimately eclipsed by a severe “narrative debacle”, allowing Pakistan’s establishment to project a well-amplified narrative of defensive victory. It also examines how this crisis empowered Field Marshal Asim Munir to bypass parliamentary democracy with rigid constitutional militarism and led Pakistan to adopt a “middle-power” posture in the West Asia conflict.

The e-book brings together the expertise of leading journalists and scholars to decode the region’s dangerous “new normal”. Read this essential analysis to explore the shifting dynamics of Indo-Pakistan conflict, the ensuing post-Pahalgam diplomatic fallout, India’s “two-front” reality check, and Pakistan’s definitive transition to absolute military rule and its ambitious new foreign policy.

Whats Inside:

Caught between contradictions and ambitions, by Stanly Johny

Operation Sindoor: when narrative debacle eclipses military accomplishment, by Dinakar Peri

Pakistan: Waiting for Godot!, by Ayesha Siddiqa

The logic of unintended consequences – Pakistan after Operation Sindoor, by Nirupama Subramanian

Pakistan’s diplomatic mediation in the West Asian conflict, by K.M. Seethi