Maarka-e-Haq – Changer of Military Balance in South Asia

Marka-e-Haq, particularly its Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos component on May 6-10 last year, has reshaped perceptions of military balance in South Asia altogether. It razed the self-structured edifice of India’s military superiority to the ground without causing any credible loss to Pakistan’s military assets. Post the Pahalgam incident on April 22, 2025, which later proved to be a false flag operation to justify India’s pre-planned adventurism in the month to come, Pakistan behaved very responsibly. Both the civil and military leaderships overtly advised for restrain, though they did promise a tit-for-tat response if its sovereignty was violated. For its part, India left no stone unturned to drive Pakistan into a full-scale military conflict. After repeatedly violating the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, India also unleashed heavy artillery firing in Sialkot and Narowal sectors along the Working Boundary. Initially, the Pakistani forces only undertook retaliatory firing. However, instead of reciprocating Pakistan’s peaceful posture, New Delhi took it as Islamabad’s weakness keeping on to intensify its firing along the LoC and the Working Boundary. Simultaneously, the Indian media continued beating the drums of war and its bullish anchors and analysts tried to create war hysteria, exaggerating India’s military might. Most of the time, they glaringly ridiculed Pakistan’s peaceful behavior and boasted of dismembering Pakistan once and for all.India’s trumpets of war were so loud that not only the people of Pakistan and the region but also the international community developed the perception that Pakistan was not able to respond to any Indian aggression and it would succumb to any Indian aggression without offering any resistance. Balance of Military Might: The balance between the land, naval and air forces of the two countries hugely tilted in favour of India. Besides, India enjoyed active support of the dreaded Israeli suicidal drones and other light and heavy mi