By Philip Yeung
The birth of a war
There is a famous saying, "If you want peace, you must prepare for war." Nowhere is this truer than in the short-lived India-Pakistan war.
Across decades, India and Pakistan have crossed swords three times over Kashmir. The latest flare-up was ignited by a terrorist attack in the disputed area, killing 26 Hindus and injuring more. India fingers Pakistan for this crime. Pakistan denies it. Before the culprits are caught and the facts checked, India throws a sucker-punch at its neighbor.
Modi, the Indian leader, a Trump-like figure, full of fire and fury, promises to make India great again. But he might be biting off more than he can chew. He angrily dispatched jets to bomb targets in Pakistan, killing 31 civilians, including women and children, with scores injured. Pakistan vows to avenge every drop of blood. Another silly war is born.
The rebirth of peace—delivered by China's air supremacy
In the early hours of May 7, 2025, for 60 heart-stopping minutes, Indian and Pakistani fighter jets duked it out in the sky, with the Chinese-made J-10 jets emerging victorious. Pakistan scored an 8-0 washout---with eight Indian jets reportedly shot down. India started by strutting with an awesome array of foreign fighter jets, 125 of them, from Israel, France, Russia and the US, as if to field-test their combat capabilities. Pakistan scrambled an equal number for the aerial dog fights, bristling with the deadly "fire-and-forget" Chinese PL 15E missiles. The world was shell-shocked when Pakistani pilots quickly reduced Indian fighting machines to scrap metal. It was a shout-from-the-rooftops victory for China's military technology, and a scrotum-shrinking moment for France's high-priced jets.
War gives leaders balls
Wars have a nasty habit of going sideways. History is littered with pig-headed leaders waging wars to have halos over their heads. Churchill became an immortal hero in vanquishing the Nazis. Thereafter, many a Western leader craved his Churchillian moment. Wars give them balls. Yes, Thatcher forged her "iron lady" image in the Falklands war. But George W Bush and Tony Blair came to grief over Iraq. Blair, with droopy testicles, was toppled as a poster-boy for political glamor. He became a despised pariah instead. He will forever be remembered as a high-flying leader brought low for getting Britain entangled in an amoral war that took the lives of over a million innocent civilians. He is immortalized as a whimpering American poodle.
Poking a porcupine
Modi wants his place on the pedestal as India's war leader. But he is getting more than he bargained for. His nose is still bloodied from a border clash with China when he vowed to avenge India's 1962 ignominious defeat. But China is a porcupine that proved too prickly for his thin skin.
This war is none of America's business
Modi was evidently emboldened by rubbing shoulders with the two superpowers: US Vice President JD Vance visited Modi the day before he launched the airstrikes, preceded by an intriguing phone call with Russia's Putin. A war in the Indian sub-continent is just the job to divert unwanted world attention away from Putin's unpopular Ukraine misadventure. The Americans have an axe to grind--turmoil in the region lets them fish in troubled waters, hoping to derail China's relations with its neighbors. But the moment India suffered its military humiliation, Vance was quick to tell the world that the conflict "is none of our business".
The rest of the world urges de-escalation and watches helplessly, as the two nuclear-armed enemies teeter on the edge of a full-scale war.
Stung by humiliating losses, India doubled down on a large-scale sea-and-air campaign against Pakistan. But it had to retreat with its tail between its legs, licking its wounds, after a huge ammunition depot was destroyed and 70% of its electronic communication networks disabled. India quickly concluded that the war is unwinnable. Uncharacteristically, it called for an immediate ceasefire. An all-out war is averted.
China, the only adult in the room
With a whack job in the White House, the world now has another crackpot with his fingers on the nuclear button. This is a high-stakes conflict for greedy Western arms manufacturers who are losing their shirts as their stocks plummet after their jets were shot out of the sky. Once again, the conflict underlines the UN's impotence and irrelevance. It fidgets while big egos in Russia, America and India clash and create chaos. The only adult in the room is low-key, mind-your-own-business China. It keeps its nose clean and its heart noble. Thanks to China and its superior military might, Pakistan has brought war-like India to its knees. Trump, always eager to hog the headlines, quickly announced the ceasefire, as if to shamelessly claim credit for the stoppage even though he hasn't lifted a finger in mediation.
Only one country is instrumental in shortening the conflict—a China with teeth has tilted its military superiority towards Pakistan, giving it the means to outpunch and outmuscle the aggressor. The streets of Pakistan are wild with celebrations, with people singing Chinese songs in gratitude for having saved their country's honor. The world, too, heaves a sigh of relief. Borrowed Chinese military muscle has frightened India into peace. The age of China has arrived.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
Read more articles by Philip Yeung:
Opinion | America enters the Dark Age
Opinion | With Trump's gutter language, America has hit rock bottom
Opinion | Is Carney a true un-Trudeau or is he a disaster for Canada?
Comment