Every year Pakistan celebrates September 6 as a “Defense Day” to pay homage to the brave sons of the soil for their profound resilience, velour, and bravery. On September 6, 1965, India violated the international border, invading Pakistan’s territory with indiscriminate aggression and power. In response, Pakistan’s armed forces with the support of the nation not only repulsed the aggression but also carried out offensive operations deep inside the Indian territory.
The Pakistan army, air force, and navy fought on the ground, air, and water and defeated Indians on every front in an incredible manner. The Indo-Pak war of 1965 continued for 17 days and caused thousands of casualties on both sides. Since World War II, the war experienced the largest tank fight engaging hundreds of armored vehicles and tanks on the battlefield. The Indian military seriously outnumbered Pakistan’s armed forces.
Pakistan’s armed forces with the support of the nation not only repulsed the aggression but also carried out offensive operations deep inside the Indian territory.
When infantry, air forces, and navy are compared, India had three times the strength. Nonetheless, the armed forces demonstrated unparalleled professionalism, audacity, and velour which is remembered today. In 1965, Pakistan made it possible to defend its geographical frontiers and repelled the Indian aggression through military weapons and equipment.
Nonetheless, defending national sovereignty and territorial borders has changed a lot since 1965. The military doctrines and warfare strategies have gone through tremendous transformation bringing new weapon systems, armaments, technologies, and delivery systems. In 1974, the detonation of an Indian nuclear bomb fundamentally transformed the future warfare between Pakistan and India, compelling Islamabad to develop its nuclear deterrence.
Therefore, in 1998, in response to Indian nuclear tests, Pakistan demonstrated its nuclear capability and became the seventh nuclear-capable state in the world. In addition to nuclear weapons, states are now facing emerging threats from the non-traditional domain: propaganda warfare, proxy war, human security, economic security, cyber security, and national cohesion. And Pakistan has no exception from all the evils of instability, anarchy, and chaos.
Today, the concept of national security has been fundamentally transformed involving comprehensive national security including human security.
Today the concept of national security ,been fundamentally transformed involving comprehensive national security including human security. The paradigm shift in the concept has amplified the importance of economic and cybersecurity, which is seriously eroding the national cohesion and unity of states. Pakistan holds a significant importance in the global and regional geopolitics, but is under serious duress due to emerging national security threats.
Apart from defending geographical frontiers from external aggression, economic self-sufficiency, and independence have become a challenge to contemporary Pakistan. Unfortunately, in the past few years, economic indicators have been worst performing due to ever-increasing borrowing, liquidation of foreign exchange reserves, and imbalance of payments. To meet the ever-increasing gap in revenue and expenses, Pakistan always seeks financial help from multilateral institutions (IMF and World Bank), as well as friendly nations, which compromises the nation’s sovereignty.
Apart from structural economic problems, rising corruption and unemployment have also contributed to the volatile economy of the country. As per the latest data published in 2024, unemployment in the country stood at around 8%, reflecting a challenging job market. It is estimated that around six million people in the country are living without a job, contributing to human insecurity, as such people could be used to wage a proxy war against Pakistan.
Cybersecurity is also necessary to safeguard Pakistan’s banking systems, critical national databases, and business information.
Cybersecurity has also become an integral pillar of a nation’s security and independence. If its cyber networks are vulnerable to enemy attacks, it not only loses valuable economic resources, rather its top-secret data is also compromised. Due to limited infrastructure and technological vulnerabilities, Pakistan has seen serious threats in recent years.
It has been a target of cyber espionage, particularly from neighboring countries and other actors seeking sensitive military data and political information. Cybersecurity is also necessary to safeguard Pakistan’s banking systems, critical national databases, and business information. Though, Pakistan enacted the “Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) in 2016, enforcement and governance remain weak, leading to serious threats to Pakistan’s digital infrastructure.
Apart from cyber security, Pakistan is also witnessing fifth-generation warfare (5GW). It is is defined as the information manipulation, use of cyber tactics, and psychological operations. In the recent past, Pakistan has seen persistent attacks of 5GW warfare from its enemies to exploit its political fault lines, erode national unity and cohesion, and reorganize the security landscape. Disinformation and propaganda have been utilized to malign Pakistan’s armed forces and to create a distance between the army and the people of the country.
Disinformation and propaganda have been utilized to malign Pakistan’s armed forces and to create a distance between the army and the people.
Frequent instances have been reported on different social media platforms, targeting the top leadership of the military as well as its martyrs, who have laid their lives for the people of Pakistan. In addition, the enemies are using similar tactics to equate Pakistan with the rogue regimes involved in massive human rights crimes, ethnic tensions, and political strife.
Political polarization, ethnic fault lines, and religious extremism are yet another challenge to Pakistan’s defense. Political polarization is equated with the extreme rivalry between different political factions of the country, leading to the blatant refusal to engage in a national dialogue to resolve political differences.
One such example is the serious differences between the PTI and the PML-N. The political differences are further compounded when traditional and social media have been utilized to target rival political leadership and promote biased narratives, which potentially leads to the erosion of trust in the political process and democratic institutions.
Similarly, Pakistan’s diverse ethnic landscape has led to tensions among its various groups. Baluchistan is the most prominent example of ethnic violence and separatist movements. The people from the province complain about the underdevelopment and resource erosion by the federal government. Groups like the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) supported by external actors are targeting the paramilitary forces and civilians.
Ethnic tensions in Sindh are visible between Muhajirs and Sindhis. MQM has long represented the Muhajir community but has been involved in violent activities against rival ethnic groups, further destabilizing the province. In addition, Religious extremism is the most pressing issue in contemporary Pakistan. Various religious groups have exploited religious sentiments to promote sectarian violence, militancy, and terrorism. Such groups are using indiscriminate force against their rivals killing innocent people.
Political polarization, ethnic fault lines, and religious extremism are yet another challenge to Pakistan’s defense.
Given the above discussion, it is imperative to reconsider defense priorities of Pakistan. Besides countering external aggression from India, countering 5GW, attaining economic independence, gaining political stability, safeguarding digital infrastructure and critical national security secrets from cyber-attacks, and curtailing political polarization, ethnic divergences, and religious extremism should be the foremost priority of the decision-makers. Once we contain internal security threats, we will be able to fight our adversaries on the geographical frontiers, otherwise, we may not be able to celebrate another “Defense Day”.
