On 7^th May 2025, an opinion piece appeared in India’s premier newspaper, The Hindustan Times titled, ‘The many messages in Operation Sindoor’. Publishing such an ill-informed and shortsightedly analyzed pieces during a hostile crisis situation for the attraction of the readers is part of the adversarial state’s propagandist strategy. However, this particular piece was jotted down by Happymon Jacob, who is considered one of the sane voices among the nuclear and defence experts in South Asia. Jacob is currently serving as an associate professor of disarmament studies at the School of International Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.

Happymon Jacob quite vehemently made certain assertions without being vigilant about the sensitivity of the evolving matter and questioned the effectiveness of Pakistan’s nuclear deterrence and called it a bluff

The article is focused on the Indian aggression that was committed across the Line of Control (LoC) and the Working Boundary (an International Border between India and Pakistan) in the early hours of 7^th May. Happymon Jacob quite vehemently made certain assertions without being vigilant about the sensitivity of the evolving matter and questioned the effectiveness of Pakistan’s nuclear deterrence and called it a bluff. Like many Indian analysists, Jacob has also declared such Indian aggression a renewed and revamped counter-terrorism strategy and unilaterally pronounced it successful.

Pakistan reserves the right, according to the United Nations charter, of Self-Defense

Jacob has talked about – India’s evolving counter-terrorism strategy, according to which India would not hesitate to take pre-emptive measures to target so-called terrorists anywhere inside Pakistan. However, this point cannot be neglected: Pakistan at the international level is an independent state that has its sovereignty over its land, air and maritime spheres and if some state threatens or violates it, then Pakistan reserves the right, according to the United Nations charter, of Self-Defense.

This is exactly how the events unfolded in the sequence. India thought that her aggression would be accepted, and Pakistan might not respond, but how could it be allowed by another sovereign state that possesses tri-services force concentration to inflict immense damage upon the adversary? Here in this conflict, one major element of deterrence cannot be discounted, and that is both India and Pakistan are Nuclear Weapon States (NWSs). Although Jacob questioned the viability of Pakistan’s nuclear deterrence, which will be discussed later, still he conceptualizes as one of the primary factors in South Asia’s security landscape.

Counterforce targeting by the Pakistan Armed Forces at the two fronts proved to be the detrimental blow at the Indian war mongering aspirations in the region

The military response by Pakistan on 10 May further dented the Indian claim of terming such heinous violation of the international law a New Normal. If such actions of the adversary go unanswered, then it may be termed a successful strategy, but counterforce targeting by the Pakistan Armed Forces at the two fronts proved to be the detrimental blow at the Indian war mongering aspirations in the region.

The ultra-Hindu nationalist agenda of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) under the leadership of Narendra Modi is based on hegemonic designs of Hindutva ideology according to which India will emerge as regional great power with an extended geographical existence and resource might discounting all other factors. In this current crisis as well, India behaved like one by ignoring the international calls of restraint and dialogue, and instead embarked on the path by targeting the counter value positions inside the mainland Pakistan that claimed numerous innocent civilian Pakistanis lives. However, the author on the other side jubilantly claimed that precision targeting has been carried out under the so-called renewed counter-terrorism policy of India to avoid casualties, but the opposite happened.

Happymon has been quite impressed with the Indian military pressers, which were largely misleading during the crisis. Those ill-informed press briefings are testament to not having media’s questions and answers sessions. Apart from this, on the diplomatic front also, India was busy spreading misinformation, like the Indian high commissioner to the United Kingdom, who, in a live interview with Sky News, propagated false information by labelling the local Pakistani cleric as the brother of the banned entity. However, on the other side the Pakistani military spokesperson has presented the cases each time with hardcore professionalism, proofs and evidence. Without allowing the international media to ask bitter questions, learned Indians should refrain from terming such pressers as the most systematic ones even during an evolving scenario.

Pakistan Air Force (PAF) at the aerial level and Pakistan Army on ground have proven that they are capable of responding to the conventionally superior force concentration of the adversary at the time of conventional crisis

The author remains hugely He lamented Pakistan’s deterrence policy of Full Spectrum Deterrence (FSD) falling within the ambit of credible minimum deterrence specific to India. Pakistan Air Force (PAF) at the aerial level and Pakistan Army on ground have proven that they are capable of responding to the conventionally superior force concentration of the adversary at the time of conventional crisis. Therefore, if the crisis has not escalated to the levels of nuclear threshold, then how somebody can question credibility of Pakistan’s nuclear deterrence.

The immature analysis by Jacob of such a caliber during an evolving conflict is quite concerning for the academic circle of India, as it seems that they also succumbed to the false propagation of their politico-military elite, irrespective of what the international community is indicating about the on-ground situation. The operational preparedness by the Pakistan armed forces at the conventional and sub-conventional level after this short but decisive stint should not be questioned.

India is shifting from being the world’s largest democracy to the world’s largest autocracy under the current ultra-nationalist Hindu regime of BJP led by Narendra Modi

India is shifting from being the world’s largest democracy to the world’s largest autocracy under the current ultra-nationalist Hindu regime of BJP led by Narendra Modi. Banning the sane voices during the hostile crisis like situation shows where India is actually headed. As far as nuclear deterrence is concerned, Pakistan’s nuclear deterrence remains robust and credible, as demonstrated by the prevailing strategic balance with India, a state significantly larger in both geographic and military terms. The persistent threat of nuclear retaliation has effectively dissuaded India from initiating a full-scale invasion or engaging in overt military aggression against Pakistan.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. They do not represent the views, beliefs, or policies of the Stratheia.