New Delhi
CNN
–
As they say, victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan.
And it follows a brief but mocking conflict between nuclear rivals India and Pakistan, with both sides quietly speaking out loud at the loss of downplay.
India’s desperate TV news channel saw the headline “Pakistan’s surrender” splattering all over the screen minutes after the US-brokered ceasefire took effect.
India’s military action against Pakistan, which was triggered by the murder of tourists in Kashmir, managed by India last month, was later said by Indian defense minister Rajnath Singh.
Meanwhile, in Pakistan, crowds gathered in the capital city to celebrate what Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif described as “military history” achieved by “a magnificent method and brave army.”
“A few hours later, our jets silenced Indian guns in a way that history would not soon forget,” Sharif said.
However, this was an eruption of violence between two nuclear-armed neighbors that were hit hard by both sides.
Pakistan trumpeted the success of the air, claiming that the pilot had fired down five Indian fighters in an air battle, as a stabbing humiliation to the Indian Air Force.
As CNN previously reported, two planes crashed across the Pakistan border in the Indian state around the time Pakistan claimed it had shot down the Jets, and a French intelligence source told CNN that Pakistan had defeated at least one Indian Rafale.
However, Indian officials still refuse to admit even the loss of a single aircraft.
Meanwhile, India has released new satellite images showing serious damage to air strips and radar stations that Indian defense officials say are multiple Pakistani military bases that are crippled by massive Indian airstrikes.
In other words, political and military leaders of India and Pakistan can spin it as they please, but there is no clear winner in this conflict.
There was even a struggle to clearly praise the US-brokered negotiations that led to a ceasefire, and President Donald Trump announced from almost blue on his true social platform.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he and Vice President JD Vance had called political and military leaders on both sides to urge them to hold them down amid the rapid deterioration of the weekend’s security situation, which has been rapidly deteriorating over the weekend.
Pakistani officials expressed their gratitude for the intervention. But Indian leaders are playing the role of the United States.
The reason for this is likely to be driven by the pride of the people, with Indian officials trying to admit that they were imposed on them by the US or even on intermediaries.
India also has a long-standing policy of refusing to allow foreign mediation in regards to the situation in Kashmir (a disputed zone as claimed by both India and Pakistan).
Nevertheless, perhaps supported by his quick ceasefire victory, President Trump offered to help find a lasting solution “million-years later” on Kashmir. Inevitably, Pakistan welcomed the idea, but India was deaf.
However, the offer reminds us that the US-brokered ceasefire is merely a quick fix. This rarely addresses remotely basic frustrations that burn what is actually a decades-old conflict over the state of Kashmir.
And if Indians and Pakistanis think that victory claims are yelling a bit now, wait until the inevitable simmering Kashmir conflict inevitably boils again.
