“We are meant to be the world’s leaders.”
For years, these lofty statements were heard on Indian political stages. With wild joy, television hosts yelled at them. With smug satisfaction, defence analysts nodded. And like a holy recitation, Narendra Modi, clad in saffron pride, repeated them.
India worked tirelessly for two decades to refine this dream: the dream of becoming a world powerhouse, a country that would compete with China, keep Pakistan at bay, and rise to the pinnacles of international power, possibly even gaining the coveted permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
However, that dream was brutally torn apart in just four days, from May 6 to May 10, leaving behind the ashes of a crumbling empire and a degraded state pleading for a ceasefire.
India didn’t start its path to self-made grandeur overnight. New Delhi spent trillions of dollars on space missions, economic diplomacy, military modernization, and a master class in creating a global image over the course of two decades.
With advanced weapons, technology from the West, and growing strategic ties with the USA, France, and Israel, India persuaded the world— and, more dangerously, itself— that it had outgrown the area. that it was a force on a global scale now. That it was free to use the language of war.
Rafale jets and aircraft carriers were paraded. It signed defense contracts like grocery coupons and demonstrated ballistic missile systems. And with a single sentence, India put an end to all opposition while the rest of the world raised eyebrows:
“The future is us.” However, the future arrived sooner than expected. And it arrived to pick up.
Late April saw a resurgence of tensions along the Line of Control, a recurring dance India does every few years when its political apparatus fails. Under Modi, India chose to escalate, provoke, and threaten rather than use diplomacy.
Indian forces increased their cross-border aggression between April 22 and May 6. Airspace was breached by armed drones. Unsettlingly, surveillance balloons hovered. Indian media was inundated with propaganda about “surgical strikes.”
The last act of hubris was a full-scale military operation on May 6 that was intended to convey to Pakistan and the rest of the world that India was untouchable. A huge mistake.
India didn’t anticipate, or maybe didn’t accept, that Pakistan had changed. It wasn’t 2016. It wasn’t even 2019. This was a new Pakistan, one that was prepared, patient, and exact.
Pakistan, on the other hand, has come out honourable, determined, and vindicated. The truth is now known to the world: Bluster is not power. Power lies in accuracy. And in this conflict between ego and discipline, discipline prevailed. The collapse has started. The illusionary empire is over. Greetings from the defeated, shattered, and uncovered New India.
Pakistan retaliated at After 5 AM, when the day rose on May 10, while India slept under false security. Not in a state of chaos. Not in a panic. But with devastating efficiency, discipline, and accuracy.
The name Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos will now reverberate through military history as the pivotal event that broke India’s illusion of superiority. Pakistan’s response to Indian aggression, this painstakingly planned retaliation was launched in the early hours of May 10 and left India’s political and military leadership stunned and paralyzed. Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos, named after the Quran’s mention of a “iron-structured wall” that is immovable and impenetrable, represented Pakistan’s unwavering determination.
In order to destroy important radar installations, cripple Indian forward positions, and reveal the weaknesses of India’s most sophisticated weapon systems, the operation combined air superiority, electronic warfare, precision drone strikes, and special forces incursions. India’s alleged multibillion-dollar defense shield was in ruins in a matter of hours. The Indian commanders were caught off guard. The intelligence failed. Technology fell apart. The world came to understand that Pakistan had not only retaliated, but had also redefined the parameters of contemporary warfare in South Asia as the rubble smoldered on the opposite side of the Line of Control.
It had a fatal effect. The Indian military leadership was immobilized. Its doctrine of air superiority fell apart. Once strutting like emperors, its political elite switched to damage control mode.
At noon on May 10, India took a step it hadn’t taken in a war since 1971:
It contacted Washington to plead, not to consult.
The Modi administration asked the USA to step in and mediate a ceasefire right away. Washington intervened to limit the damage and prevent Pakistan from pressing further after being horrified by the extent of India’s defeat and worried about a regional collapse.
Remember the past: it was not a negotiated ceasefire. It was a surrender ceasefire.
On the battlefield, the repercussions continued. Like a tsunami, they swept through diplomatic circles. In contrast to earlier support, France, India’s valued arms supplier, issued a subdued statement calling for “restraint on both sides.”
Pentagon officials privately expressed concerns about India’s inability to efficiently use US technology and its incapacity to carry out modern warfare, but the USA remained silent. Russia distanced itself, still dealing with the chaos that followed Ukraine. China grinned, of course. India went from “rising power” to global shame in a single week.
Its claim to regional leadership is under scrutiny. And in the gutter of shattered ideologies and vanquished soldiers rests its dream of Akhand Bharat.
The world now realizes that Pakistan is no longer the punching bag it once attempted to be, something India was unable to understand. Pakistan’s military action went beyond merely defending its territory. It was a defence of truth, honour, and sovereignty.
Pakistan demonstrated that when the time came, it stood tall, united, and unflinching despite being singled out internationally, under economic pressure, and the subject of diplomatic malignment. It was more than just a military triumph. It was a psychological and moral victory.
Nationalism, militarism, and myth-making were the three pillars upon which Modi based his empire for many years. Now, all three are in ruins. The Indian public is starting to doubt everything because they are fed up with the constant talk of war and growing economic desperation. Mumbai and Delhi, protests have broken out. The event is being referred to as a “disaster of leadership” by veterans. He promised greatness, but instead he brought shame and defeat.
This is not just a setback. It’s a reckoning. India is no longer regarded as a superpower on the rise. It is viewed as a heedless country, engulfed in hate-fueled ideology, and governed by a regime that lacks strategy and is fixated on appearances. Its hopes are dashed. Its self-assurance is destroyed. It has also lost its moral compass.
Pakistan, on the other hand, has come out honourable, determined, and vindicated. The truth is now known to the world: Bluster is not power. Power lies in accuracy. And in this conflict between ego and discipline, discipline prevailed. The collapse has started. The illusionary empire is over. Greetings from the defeated, shattered, and uncovered New India.
