Impregnable and invincible

Express Tribune

28-05-2025

Listen to article
As the nation proudly celebrated Youm-e-Takbeer, it was highly indebted to the luminary nuclear scientists, the visionary political leadership and the resilient civil, military bureaucracy that underwent all odds for decades, but never compromised on its security and sovereignty.
The Chagai May 28, 1998 atomic tests were in response to India's provocative jingoism of 'Smiling Buddha', and surely Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan and Dr Samar Mubarakmand deserve our praise and salutation.
Likewise, former PM Nawaz Sharif's apt decision to call the Indian bluff blessed Pakistan with the desired deterrence to stand tall among the comity of nations. This nuclear threshold has come to guard Pakistan as New Delhi opted for aggression early this month, and the befitting response from our armed forces and the nation is more than enough to keep the Hindutva-dispensation well within its limits.
Pakistan, as the seventh nuclear power in the globe and the only one in the Islamic world, is a power to be reckoned with. Moreover, its impregnable defence exhibited its glory and the world, including India, today recognises its superiority in all forms and manifestations.
The lethal response in self-defence, after four days of Indian onslaught, not only surprised the pundits of doom in India but also made global strategists come out in praise of Pakistan as it never let loose interstate and diplomatic ethics. Now is the time to build on that treasure trove and let the nation unite on a single cardinal principle: no to submission, and no compromise on security.
There is an opportunity in disaster for India to start talking to Pakistan, and iron out the intricate differences on the diplomatic front. The two states have fought four wars: 1948, 1965, 1971 and 2025. More to it is the Kargil episode of 1999, and countless skirmishes, border clashes and intrusions.
But the outcome is single-pointer: the dispute of Kashmir is in need of being resolved. Now India's shenanigans such as abrogating Kashmir's special status and suspending IWT are self-defeating in the long run. As Islamabad has offered to talk, it's time to demonstrate leadership and bury the hatchet for a better tomorrow.