The first drone war has begun between nuclear forces, the most powerful Pakistani comes out of the shadows

At the same time, unexpectedly, he gives himself more visibility in Pakistan, who further strengthened the influence of the strong, flowing army in politics, which seems to be becoming more and more religious.

Artillery and drones

Airplanes, artillery and drones have marked escalation since India strikes Pakistan, and world forces have been calling for restraint. The world’s largest cricket championship – the Indian – stopped for a week because of escalation that took the lives of 36 Pakistanis according to Islamabad (and 40-50 Indian military, according to the Minister of Defense) and 16 civilian Indians according to New Delhi.

In the midst of exchanging accusations on both sides, often inclined to inflate damage information and victims for internal purposes, it seems secure to open a new phase in the conflict. The drones, the BBC writes, are quiet, can be used from afar, and the other side deny that it has something to do with their launch.

« The Indian -Pakistani conflict is entering a new era of drones – one in which the » invisible eyes and precision of unmanned aircraft can determine (whether there will be) escalation or restraint. In this way, in the contested sky of South Asia, the country that rules the war with drones will not only see the battlefield – it will shape it, « Jahara Matisek, a professor at the US Naval College, told British public media.

The Pakistani military announced on Thursday that they had removed 25 Indian drones in different cities, including Karachi, Lahore and Ravalpindy. Drones – which are said to have been manufactured in Israel, Harop – have been intercepted with the help of technical and arms countermeasures. India claims to have neutralized several Pakistani radars and air defense systems, including one in Lahor, which Islamabad denied, the media continues.

Alien

Developing their output, South Asian countries at the same time rely on foreign forces for the spine of their drone arsenal.

The role but drones may be more limited in this conflict than the way they changed the battlefield in Ukraine, although it may be the beginning of a greater conflict, and it is a way to attempt de-escalation. Obviously, India integrates drones into its precision doctrine in a way that saves disturbance of the border from conventional aviation. However, this evolution also raises critical questions.

Drones reduce the political and operational action threshold, but they also create a new escalation dynamics, but they also create a new dynamics because any drone and muted radar can be a potential point of tension between two nuclear forces, the expert interlocutor quoted the media, said in the analysis.

Increasingly visible

Another novelty, echoing in the public space and the media of both sides: the role of the person who involves the already strong army even deeper into Pakistani politics.

Munir, the son of a school principal and a representative of the religious elite, for nearly 4 decades alternates important tasks, commands the Cashmir border forces, serves in Saudi Arabia to strengthen the connections, and runs the services.

For a short time in 2019 (with the previous Kashmir attack, he increased tensions) is responsible for the so -called Interdepartmental Intelligence Agency (ISI), a fearsome service that once helped the Tabilans at their first mastery of Afghanistan. According to some testimonies, he is highly religious, does not like to contradict him, and over the years he has radicalized his views on the irreconcilability between India and Pakistan. « He is immersed in religion, » Hussein Hacani, a former Pakistan ambassador to the United States, tells him. « At best, it will look to guide the tension and score as many points as possible while it does. »

And now Munir also has an Hindu nationalist in the face of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. For Modi, and for India in general, there was no way to go unnoticed to the military in April, portrayed Kashmir as a vital for Pakistan’s identity (Islamabad denies such a connection).

Reuters

The New York Times notes that Gen. Munir, watched, made a turn to more ismamized Pakistani Armed Forces, as was the case with the military dictator Zia Ul Hack in the 1980s (but then coordinated with the United States). In doing so, the army gives signs that it has been intensifying its role in relations with India, appointing the current head of intelligence as a national security advisor (a role so far assigned to a civilian or for the OZ General).

While in Pakistan, the public, unforgettable with the presence of military camps and still seeing Pakistan as a victim, insists on an answer, it all depends on Munir who controls strategic decisions much more than Prime Minister Shehbaz Sheriff (by the way. Behind the attack.

« The fact that he controls everything from politics to the economy makes Munir powerful, but he is not a magician who can save Pakistan from his economic problems, » Sidika said. « A war that confronts him against Narendra Modi, another nationalist, will complicate the question further. The decision that Muir must take is whether to dial a dialogue with India to end the conflict, or to get into a greater strategic abyss, » she summarizes.