In the era of hybrid warfare, 5th Generation Warfare, or Non-Kinetic Warfare, where the enemy is invisible and unrecognizable, the political environment has evolved to the point where identifying the enemy is extremely difficult.
Unfortunately, Quaid’s vision of peace within and peace without remains a pipe dream for every Pakistani, possibly because we failed to properly recognize the enemy within and the enemy without. While Pakistan’s Armed Forces were busy defending the country’s territorial integrity against traditional applications of force by the enemy, successive political governments failed to correctly read enemy designs that were aimed at elements of non-traditional security through the use of hybrid means.
Pakistan has been involved in numerous wars, conflicts, and crises with its archrival, India. The central issue in most wars and conflicts was Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), but the list of agenda items in the disputes has grown over the last seven decades. While J&K remains unresolved, Sir Creek, Siachen, water sharing, the Kargil conflict, the Twin Peaks crises, the Mumbai attacks, and, most recently, the February 2019 crisis have been added to the long list of evolving disputes.
India’s Unending Hybrid War Against Pakistan:
Furthermore, India has waged unending hybrid war against Pakistan in order to weaken the state from within. The reintroduction of the term hybrid warfare gained traction following Russia’s takeover of the Crimean Peninsula in March 2014, despite the fact that the concept is as old as war itself. Andrew Mumford’s (2016) definition of a hybrid adversary “as one that uses a combination of political, military, economic, social, and intelligence methods of influence, as well as conventional, irregular, terrorist, and criminal methods of warfare” appears fairly comprehensive and accurately depicts the South Asian environment.
EU Dis-Info Lab “Indian Chronicles”:
India has used some or all of the hybrid force tools listed above against Pakistan. The European Watchdog Dis-Info Lab confirmed this in the “Indian Chronicles” report released in December 2020. The fifteen-year-long operations targeted major capitals in the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN) in order to serve Indian interests while harming China and Pakistan.
However, India would not have been able to achieve its political goals without active support from within the target areas. While some external agents were also sent as facilitators and directors of sensitive operations, such as Indian Navy serving officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was apprehended near the Iranian border on March 3, 2016. Jadhav is now in a Pakistani jail serving a death sentence, while the Indian High Commission refuses to appoint a defense counsel for his case, which is currently pending at the Islamabad High Court in response to an International Court of Justice order for a fair trial (ICJ).
Role of Local Elements:
Similarly, a political crisis that leads to socioeconomic instability cannot occur without active support from local elements. As evidenced by the “Indian Chronicles” report, these could be Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), political offices of external elements, ingress through Joint Ventures (JVs), foreign-funded media houses, and so on. At least 750 fake media outlets and 550 website domains took part in the campaign, which was primarily directed at China and Pakistan at the request of Indian intelligence agencies.
Externally-driven but locally-executed moves are also blamed for recently triggered political instability in Pakistan, which ultimately led to the economic downturn. What our adversaries have gained from the current situation is skyrocketing inflation, a disgruntled populace, a falling currency, a growing reliance on international donor agencies, and an extremely vulnerable society that has become polarized, volatile, and disenchanted with state institutions.
In fact, when a target state’s own people are restless and disillusioned, this is the most desirable situation for an adversary. If an enemy’s goal of instilling discontent among the masses is accomplished, it has already won half the battle. Perhaps the enemy has accomplished what the Chinese sage Sun Tzu said over 2500 years ago: the best victory is one won without fighting.
As a result, it is critical to understand that we must identify the enemy within because the enemy outside is visible, whereas the enemy within is invisible and causes more harm than the visible enemy, who can be dealt with by trained armed forces. Pakistan has dealt with the ongoing hybrid war imposed on it by India; therefore, more emphasis should be placed on identifying the enemy within, because the outside enemy cannot achieve its political objectives without active support from elements within the target state.
