The Arms Control and Disarmament Centre at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad held a Defence Day commemoration under the theme “Marka-e-Haq and the Future of Warfare in South Asia,” bringing together ISSI researchers, interns and students to reflect on recent military tensions with India, the region\u2019s deterrence dynamics, and the impact of emerging technologies on future conflict. Speakers paid tribute to the armed forces and martyrs, reviewed the evolution of Pakistan\u2019s deterrent posture, and called for modernization and strategic preparedness alongside continued support for dialogue.<\/p>\n
Ambassador Sohail Mahmood, Director General of ISSI, opened the event by honoring the sacrifices of the armed forces and martyrs in defending Pakistan. He traced the country\u2019s strategic trajectory from early conflicts through the decision to develop nuclear capabilities, arguing that Pakistan\u2019s nuclear tests removed an existential threat and strengthened national defence. He warned against any misconception that limited conventional war beneath a nuclear threshold is feasible, stressing that while Pakistan favors constructive engagement and result-oriented dialogue, it will respond firmly to threats to its sovereignty and territorial integrity. He said Pakistan\u2019s swift and professional response to recent aggression had demonstrated national resolve and enhanced its international standing. He also emphasized that defence is multidimensional, encompassing national unity, economic strength, social cohesion and robust military capability.<\/p>\n
Malik Qasim Mustafa, Director of the ACDC, said that despite a ceasefire following recent clashes, India\u2019s actions and evolving doctrine raised concerns for regional peace and deterrence stability. He argued that New Delhi appears to be shifting toward doctrines that combine nuclear and conventional war-fighting postures. Mustafa called for efforts to bolster Pakistan\u2019s deterrence, including modernization of military capabilities and delivery systems to deter future attacks, aggression or unintended escalation.<\/p>\n
Research assistants Aleena Afzal and Hadia Akhtar presented on “Marka-e-Haq and the Future of Warfare in South Asia,” reviewing the Pahalgam incident and Pakistan\u2019s response to the unprovoked aggression earlier this year. They highlighted how integrated multi-domain operations\u2014linking land, sea, air, cyber and space\u2014will shape future conflicts, and identified disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, unmanned systems, hypersonic weapons, cybersecurity tools and network-centric warfare as key factors that will transform regional military competition. They argued that commemorating Defence Day should include preparing for these technological and doctrinal changes.<\/p>\n
In an interactive session, participants said this year\u2019s observance carried renewed significance. For many young people who associated Defence Day primarily with earlier wars, recent events brought its relevance into the present. Discussants underscored that Pakistan\u2019s nuclear capability remains a defining element of South Asia\u2019s strategic balance and that, while advanced weapons matter, sound strategy and national resolve ultimately determine outcomes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Arms Control and Disarmament Centre at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad held a Defence Day commemoration under the theme “Marka-e-Haq and the Future of Warfare in South Asia,” bringing together ISSI researchers, interns and students to reflect on recent military tensions with India, the region\u2019s deterrence dynamics, and the impact of emerging technologies …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":10374,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10373"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10373\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10375,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10373\/revisions\/10375"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}