Abstract
India Pakistan conflict is described as “absurd, inconceivable, and sheer stupidity” by Pakistan’s military leadership in light of the recent escalation in May 2025. This comment underscores the existential threat posed by war between two nuclear powers and critiques India’s aggressive posture, strategic deception, and reliance on disinformation to mislead both its electorate and international partners. It calls attention to the widening gap between India’s regional ambitions and its military capabilities, and positions Pakistan’s response as a necessary effort to redirect the global narrative toward truth, restraint, and stability.
The Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Lt General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said in the Tri-Service Press Conference on 11 May 2025, “… a conflict between two rival nuclear powers… such a conflict is actually an absurdity, and it is inconceivable and sheer stupidity. Why? Because that conflict can lead, in the case of India and Pakistan, to the peril of more than 1.6 billion people. So, in reality, there is no space for war between India and Pakistan, and if anyone wants to carve out this space for war, he is actually carving out space for mutual annihilation.”
He was spot on in his analysis, there is no denying this truth from a regional as well as a global perspective. Yet, India has not hesitated in being the aggressor on multiple occasions, the most recent being 7 May 2025. Furthermore, its military campaign has been backed by deceit from not only its media but also its military and government officials.
The deception is not only meant for the RSS-BJP vote bank but also its strategic partners who have misplaced considerable faith in India to play the role of net security provider for the region. However, the recent conflict exposed India’s military vulnerabilities, inadequacies and inefficiencies and has remained counterproductive to any misguided benefits they assumed would come their way through a hegemonic approach in the region.
Criterion Quarterly is publishing this special edition as Pakistan initiates its diplomatic efforts to realign the narrative away from deceit and towards reality. It delves deep into the genocidal, repressive and hegemonistic mindset prevalent within the power corridors of India that disregards international laws and institutions and human rights.
The articles in this edition have been selected from previous issues of CQ. The first section deals with the history and the Hindutva ideology (Akhand Bharat) fueling the RSS-BJP (Sangh Parivar) misadventures. Some of the outcomes of this ideology and related misadventures are presented in the remaining two sections of this edition. The second section addresses Kashmir and the abrogation of article 370. The third section highlights the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), its historical background, new challenges and the disputes. The articles on the Treaty were written before the 24 April 2025 abeyance of the same. While suggesting solutions, they delve into the Indian attitude and actions that suggested that they had already decided on the fate of the Treaty before 22 April 2025.
The author of the first two sections is the late A.G. Noorani who was an eminent Indian scholar and an expert on constitutional issues. There is a certain level of appreciation for his work, not only because of the scholarly excellence, but also because he was one of the few who exposed the reality behind the current administration in India, despite being a Muslim living in that country.
The author of the IWT articles in the last section of this edition is Ambassador Shafqat Kakakhel. He is a former Ambassador of Pakistan who later served as Deputy Executive Director in the UN Environment Program with the rank of UN Assistant Secretary General. He is currently Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute in Islamabad.
We hope that the articles in this edition will provide an insight that will help us better understand the mindset that we are up against in our attempt to develop a narrative that is based on reality and promotes peace and harmony in the region.
Other Articles in Volume 20-Special Edition:
- The RSS – A. G. Noorani
- Hindutva: Its Past & Future – A. G. Noorani
- India can not Crush Kashmir – A. G. Noorani
- RSS’ War on Kashmir – A. G. Noorani
- The Indus Waters Treaty – Shafqat Kakakhel
- The Indus River Basin Saga: The Need for Reinvigorating the Indus Waters Treaty – Shafqat Kakakhel
- The Future of the Indus Waters Treaty – Shafqat Kakakhel
