As the military flare-up between India and Pakistan settles, a senior Pakistani military leader has issued a sobering warning: the situation may have de-escalated, but the threat of future miscalculation looms large.
General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Pakistan’s chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, revealed in an interview that while nuclear weapons remained off the table during the conflict, the episode highlighted just how easily tensions between the two nuclear-armed rivals could spiral.
In an interview with Reuters, General Sahir Shamshad Mirza confirmed that troop levels along the India-Pakistan border are returning to pre-conflict norms. “We have almost come back to the pre-22nd April situation… we are approaching that, or we must have approached that by now,” he said. Mirza is the most senior Pakistani military figure to publicly address the conflict since its peak.
Despite the apparent military de-escalation, Mirza warned that the latest confrontation had deepened long-term risks. “Nothing happened this time,” he noted. “But you can’t rule out any strategic miscalculation at any time, because when the crisis is on, the responses are different.”
Unlike previous standoffs, the recent clashes weren’t confined to Kashmir, the long-disputed Himalayan region both nations claim in full. This broader scope, Mirza warned, raises the stakes significantly.
On May 29, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that Pakistan had pleaded for an end to the fighting after India showcased its domestic military capabilities during Operation Sindoor. He also cautioned that “the action was not over yet.”
The crisis was sparked by the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam that left 26 dead. India retaliated on May 7 with precision strikes targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Pakistan responded with strikes targeting Indian military bases over the following three days. Indian forces retaliated swiftly.
The confrontation was brought to a halt after military leaders from both sides held talks on May 10, resulting in an agreement to cease further military action.
