The establishment’s most heinous characteristic, directly threatening Indian lives and global security, is its institutionalized deployment of militant proxies.
MUMBAI: The Pakistani military, a self-styled “establishment,” has metastasized far beyond its legitimate security role to become a malignant presence in South Asia and a global concern. This is no conventional armed force but a parasitic deep state that has systematically strangled Pakistan’s democratic development while weaponizing terror as state policy. From an Indian perspective, this institution represents both an existential threat and a fundamental challenge to international order. The blood-soaked history of Pakistan’s military dominance offers irrefutable evidence of a rogue entity operating with impunity – culminating in the recent Pahalgam massacre, where its terror proxies executed civilians with cold precision.
The military’s iron grip on Pakistan is absolute. Since its inception, the army has positioned itself as the nation’s sole guardian and ideological custodian. Civilian governments exist merely as temporary facades, tolerated only while compliant. Any genuine assertion of civilian authority triggers swift demolition through coups, judicial manipulation, or manufactured political crises. The pattern established by General Ayub Khan’s 1958 coup has repeated through Yahya Khan, Zia-ul-Haq, and Musharraf. Even nominally “democratic” periods are characterized by military puppeteering—rigging elections, intimidating politicians, and ensuring that democratic institutions serve only to legitimize Rawalpindi’s control. This perpetual instability isn’t accidental but deliberate, designed to prevent any civilian leadership from challenging military dominance. The establishment thrives in chaos, using internal and external threats to justify its outsized power and resource capture.
This domination extends far beyond politics. The establishment has constructed a vast economic empire controlling prime land, running corporations from fertilizers to banking, and operating with remarkable opacity. This military-industrial complex enriches top officers while Pakistan’s economy collapses under debt and corruption flowing from the top. One can talk to property brokers in London to find out the prime real estate owned by the “Generals” and their relatives. The military devours a disproportionate share of national resources that should fund education, healthcare, and infrastructure, condemning civilians to entrenched poverty. Simultaneously, the establishment maintains ruthless information control through media coercion, censorship, and propaganda. Journalists who challenge military narratives face disappearance or brutal retaliation, ensuring dissent remains stifled.
The establishment’s most heinous characteristic—directly threatening Indian lives and global security—is its institutionalized deployment of militant proxies. The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) isn’t merely complicit but the architect and a direct handler of terrorist organizations like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed. These groups function as instruments of state policy, trained, funded, and directed to wage unrelenting asymmetric warfare against India. The 2008 Mumbai attacks stand as damning testimony to this nexus, with David Headley’s testimony exposing the direct involvement of ISI handlers, including Major Iqbal, who oversaw reconnaissance for attacks that killed 166 people. Similarly, JeM, founded by Masood Azhar after his India release, has perpetrated devastating attacks including the 2001 Parliament siege and 2019 Pulwama bombing that killed 40 security personnel. Intercepted communications revealed Pakistani handlers directing the Pulwama attack, while Azhar remained protected in Bahawalpur despite UN sanctions.
The “strategic depth” doctrine, seeking influence in Afghanistan and pressure on India over Kashmir, provides ideological justification for this terror patronage. The ISI has institutionalized support for these groups, deliberately blurring lines between state policy and non-state actors. Training camps across Pakistan serve as operational hubs for cross-border terrorism. The ISI’s specialized S Wing and Joint Intelligence/North division have been directly implicated in militant operations. U.S. intelligence cables and court testimonies confirm ISI officers providing funds, training, and tactical intelligence for attacks like Mumbai, while the Joint Signal Intelligence Bureau facilitates communications for Kashmir-focused terrorist groups.
The Pahalgam attack on 22 April 2025, represents the latest manifestation of this state-sponsored terrorism. The audacity to commit this attack when the US Vice President J.D. Vance is visiting India, shows the brazen carelessness for consequences, especially as the US has just extradited Tahavvur Rana to India for his role on 26/11.
The Resistance Front (TRF), an established LeT proxy, slaughtered 28 civilians including Indian citizens and foreign nationals, while injuring 20 more. Armed with military-grade weapons, the attackers specifically targeted Hindus, forcing them to recite Islamic verses before execution—a calculated sectarian atrocity designed to incite communal discord. Sources say Indian intelligence has traced this attack to Pakistan-based handlers, identifying suspects like Asif Fauji and Suleman Shah operating under ISI direction, who infiltrated via established cross-border routes used by ISI-backed militants for decades. TRF’s claim citing opposition to India’s “demographic changes” in Kashmir directly echoes Pakistani state propaganda. Despite brief removal from the FATF gray-list, Pakistan has deliberately failed to dismantle LeT’s financial and operational networks, allowing groups like TRF to continue recruiting, training, and executing attacks with impunity.
Globally, the establishment’s actions have corroded security frameworks. Its critical role in fueling jihadist movements during the Soviet-Afghan War, channeling Western and Saudi funding to extremists, created ongoing global terror threats. Pakistan’s support for the Taliban, allowing the Quetta and Peshawar Shuras to operate freely from its territory, enabled the insurgency to regroup and ultimately recapture Afghanistan. The Haqqani Network, described by Admiral Mullen as a “veritable arm” of the ISI, orchestrated high-profile attacks on western coalition forces, including the 2011 U.S. Embassy bombing in Kabul. The Taliban’s 2021 return validated concerns that Pakistani sanctuaries had prolonged the conflict. This cynical double-game – hunting with the hound, and running with the hare, presenting itself as a counter-terrorism partner while covertly supporting militant groups – has undermined global security efforts at incalculable human and financial cost.
The 2011 discovery of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, near Pakistan’s premier military academy, exposed the depth of establishment complicity. While a Pakistani inquiry acknowledged “astonishing incompetence,” it avoided direct military blame. However, former ISI chief Ziauddin Khawaja alleged Brigadier Ijaz Shah orchestrated bin Laden’s hideout with Musharraf’s knowledge. This incident intensified global skepticism, with the U.S. suspending $800 million in military aid shortly thereafter.
The establishment’s revisionist agenda and contempt for international norms directly undermine global order. Its refusal to accept established borders, constant belligerence toward India, and support for non-state actors have made South Asia dangerously volatile. This instability compounds as Pakistan’s economy spirals toward default, driven by military resource capture and corruption. The establishment increasingly turns to China, even in wake of the US-China tariff war, thereby expanding Beijing’s regional footprint and complicating geopolitical dynamics.
The establishment has masterfully manipulated global institutions to evade accountability. Despite overwhelming evidence of terrorist ties, it has largely escaped designation as a state sponsor of terrorism by leveraging its strategic location and nuclear arsenal. After the 2019 Pulwama attack, while the UNSC mandated sanctions on JeM and the US suspended security assistance, Pakistan’s Operation Zarb-e-Azb tellingly targeted only domestic threats while sparing groups focused on Afghanistan and India. It used the opportunity to target TTP and Baloch insurgents only. China’s geopolitical interests have shielded Pakistan from stronger UN measures. This duplicity has not only perpetuated dangerous policies but eroded trust in multilateral security mechanisms.
Three interconnected existential risks emerge from this reality. First, Pakistan’s sixth-largest nuclear arsenal under military control creates the terrifying prospect of weapons falling into extremist hands or triggering catastrophic regional conflict. Second, the establishment’s continued and open nurturing of jihadist groups provides breeding grounds for transnational terror networks threatening global security. Finally, the deliberate destabilization of South Asia prevents regional cooperation on critical challenges like climate change and water scarcity.
From India’s perspective, the path forward requires abandoning appeasement, and imposing costs on the Pakistan establishment. The world must confront the Pakistan Army as a rogue institution through targeted sanctions against leadership and economic interests, cessation of military aid, and diplomatic isolation of entities like the ISI. The Pahalgam attack demands genuine, verifiable action against all Pakistan-based terror groups. Simultaneously, India must strengthen its defences and counter Pakistan’s revisionist narratives with evidence of state-sponsored terrorism. Tolerating the Pakistan deep state isn’t a path to stability but an endorsement of chaos—a tacit acceptance of an institution threatening not just South Asian peace but global security fundamentals.
* Brijesh Singh is a senior IPS officer and an author (@brijeshbsingh on X). His latest book on ancient India, “The Cloud Chariot” (Penguin) is out on stands. Views are personal.