The long-simmering conflict between India and Pakistan is not only escalating, but evolving, with both sides adding drones and propaganda messages to their regular artillery exchanges.
Pakistan claims that India has launched at least 25 drones into Pakistani airspace, which Pakistan promptly shot down.
India, unsurprisingly, disputes that claim. At the same time, India is claiming Pakistan has been launching drone attacks of its own into India’s portion of the disputed Kashmir region.
Both sides have apparently been exchanging artillery fire in Kashmir.
Artillery in the disputed region of Kashmir has been ferocious, and dozens of civilians have been reported killed on both sides of the boundary. That has been a routine feature of conflict between India and Pakistan. What makes this week’s fighting new is the exchange of loitering munitions, other kinds of drones, and tactical missiles. Still, the escalation is not visible in the death toll. Relatively few people have been reported killed by those weapons since the first night of India’s offensive.
One aspect of this conflict which is decidedly different from earlier disputes between the two adversaries is the degree to which the conflict is extending beyond Kashmir.
If any aspect of this conflict has the capacity to lead this down the road to nuclear escalation, it is this widening of the theater of conflict.
Sorting fact from fiction from a distance is well nigh impossible at this point, as both sides almost reflexively accuse the other of propaganda, while likely engaging in propaganda of their own.
Case in point: The Economic Times, an India news outlet, has made a point of mocking claims made by Pakistan Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, calling them “bizarre.
For its part, Pakistani outlet Dawn has been lionizing the claimed Pakistani casualties from India’s drone and missile attack on Wednesday.
One aspect of the conflict being reported by both sides is the use of drone technology. This is but the latest conflict where drones are being used apparently with strategic effects.
The Syrian rebel group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham was widely reported to have used drones in the final push to eject Assad from Damascus late last year.
Ukraine, of course, has been using drones with some effect to strike cities and targets deep inside Russia.
Israel has been using drones in its ongoing strikes in Syria and Lebanon.
To the growing list of conflicts where drones are key we now add this latest fight between India and Pakistan. There seems little doubt that drones are going to be a primary battlefield weapons system from now on.
Between the escalating drone war and the escalating propaganda war, this conflict shows little sign of abating any time soon.
Yeah, it seems that nobody really knows what's going on over there. And there's little reporting from independent journalists as well.
All I know is that it's not good.
Really disturbing news, Peter. Thanks for keeping us informed!