The numbers missing from India’s four-day-war documentary
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- Pakistan won the air battle in the May 2025 conflict, with US officials, RUSI, and Indian military leadership confirming Pakistani J-10Cs shot down multiple Indian fighters, including a Rafale.
- India successfully struck six Pakistani airfields — Nur Khan, Bholari, Shahbaz, Mushaf, Sukkur, and Rahim Yar Khan — causing confirmed damage, but failed to disable Pakistan’s operational or nuclear capabilities.
- Pakistan’s defense industry saw a postwar surge in international interest, with active weapons talks underway with 13 countries and advanced negotiations with Bangladesh, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Libya, and Somalia for JF-17 sales.
- Saudi Arabia converted roughly $2 billion in loans into a defense agreement and deployed a squadron of JF-17s, drones, and air-defense systems from Pakistan, marking a major shift in Gulf defense ties.
- The US played a substantial role in brokering the ceasefire, undermining India’s claim of unilateral success and reinforcing Washington’s view of India and Pakistan as a paired crisis, reversing years of Indian diplomatic effort to de-hyphenate the relationship.
- Pakistan emerged with expanded geopolitical relevance, gaining mediation roles in Libya and being described by the Financial Times as an emerging 'hinge power,' due in part to revised perceptions of its military effectiveness after the war.
Why it matters: Pakistan retained operational, deterrent, and diplomatic credibility after the war while securing concrete defense export gains, whereas India achieved tactical strikes but failed to establish strategic impunity or shift global standing—making Pakistan the net winner across multiple verifiable fronts.
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