The suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty has become another marker of this harder posture.
“Blood and water can’t go together,” Bisaria says. “There is no way the treaty is coming back.”
From Pakistan’s perspective, however, the conflict appears to have reinforced faith in its own escalation strategy.
Haqqani argues the brief duration of the conflict worked to Pakistan’s advantage.
“Pakistan’s strategy has been to move rapidly up the escalation ladder so that the threat of nuclear war brings in the international community,” he says.
That belief appears widespread within Pakistan’s strategic community.
READ MORE ON THE NEXT PAGE..
