India's covert war on Pakistan's existence

Express Tribune

16-05-2025

The writer is a public policy analyst based in Lahore. She can be reached at [e-mail]
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In yet another grim episode of ethnic bloodshed, four Punjabi men were recently gunned down in the Naukshi area of Balochistan. From bus shootings to train bombings, like on the ill-fated Jaffar Express — which was, notably, en route to Punjab — Punjabis have increasingly become targets of orchestrated violence in Balochistan.
These are not random crimes; they are the result of calculated efforts to create ethnic fault lines within Pakistan, weaken its internal cohesion, and damage the fabric of inter-provincial harmony. What is most alarming is the growing evidence of India's direct involvement in funding and orchestrating these attacks, under the BJP's watch.
While the world sees Balochistan through the lens of development and deprivation, India sees it as a wedge to exploit.
From the confessions of captured Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav to intelligence reports from global agencies, it is clear that New Delhi has long been nurturing anti-state elements in Balochistan. BLA receives logistical, financial and ideological support from Indian handlers. Likewise, elements of the TTP, though ideologically driven, have found patronage and sanctuaries across the Afghan border — once again under India's influence.
All these nefarious designs on Pakistan are part of a broader Indian strategy: destabilise Pakistan from within so that it eventually breaks apart. The Punjabi community, representing the country's largest ethnic group, has become a primary target in this vicious campaign.
Under the leadership of Modi and BJP, India's hostility has acquired a distinct ideological tone. It is not just about borders anymore; it is about identity. The hatred for Pakistan, which stems from the very basis of the two-nation theory, is now deeply fused with a broader Hindutva-driven animosity against Muslims.
This ideology manifests in India's domestic politics through lynchings, discriminatory laws like the Citizenship Amendment Act, and the systematic marginalisation of Muslims. Internationally, it takes the form of aggression towards Pakistan, attempts to isolate it diplomatically, and now — as seen in Balochistan — efforts to weaken it from within.
The irony is staggering. While the BJP-led regime brands Muslims as terrorists, they have no hesitation in seeking validation from Muslim-majority Gulf countries. Modi is often seen being decorated by Muslim rulers, welcomed with royal protocol, even as his administration pushes an anti-Muslim agenda at home. The same Muslims that are demonised in India are then conveniently used as a means for economic gain abroad.
India's persistent provocations are a ticking time bomb. Both India and Pakistan are nuclear-armed nations, and continued destabilisation increases the risk of open conflict.
The Pahalgam incident was a chilling reminder of how quickly tensions can escalate. Any future confrontation may not be as contained, and the consequences would be catastrophic not just for South Asia but for the entire world.
India's current approach under the BJP is not one of regional leadership or coexistence; it is one of domination and disruption. The idea is not merely to weaken Pakistan politically or economically, but to erase its ideological basis.
Silence in the face of injustice is complicity.
The international community, particularly the Muslim world, must see through India's double standards. It cannot turn a blind eye to India's state-sponsored terrorism in Balochistan while celebrating Modi as a global statesman. Pakistan, too, must recalibrate its diplomatic and security responses to expose this dangerous nexus at every forum.
The blood of the Punjabis killed in Naukshi is not just on the hands of the gunmen; it is on the hands of those who fund them, protect them, and remain silent about them. India's hybrid war is not a theory anymore — it is a lived reality. The world must acknowledge it, and Pakistan must counter it with unity, resolve, and unapologetic strength.
If India believes it can fracture Pakistan by sowing ethnic divisions and spreading terror, it is gravely mistaken. We may be many ethnicities, but we are one nation. And this nation will not be broken — as India must have realised in the befitting response of Operation Sindoor with Operation Bunyan Marsoos.