The Cyclic Diversionary Tactic: How Pakistan's Internal Crises Fuel Terror Attacks on India

Abstract

For decades, Pakistan's military-ISI alliance has masterminded terrorist attacks on India, a calculated gambit to quell domestic unrest while cementing its iron grip on power - but at what cost to its own people? By stoking the flames of the India-Pakistan rivalry and wielding the potent symbolism of Kashmir, this shadowy nexus deftly shifts the spotlight from its own failures: political turmoil, economic collapse, and raging insurgencies in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK). The strategy is clear - sacrifice the welfare of ordinary Pakistanis to fuel nationalist zeal and funnel resources to military dominance, with little regard for the public's plight. Take the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which diverted attention from the military's faltering operations in FATA, where civilian displacement and deaths sparked outrage, to the India border, leaving KPK communities mired in chaos. Or consider the 2019 Pulwama attack, which eclipsed the crushing inflation and IMF bailout woes under Imran Khan's government, offering no respite to a population sinking deeper into poverty as the military fixated on Kashmir. The 2025 Pahalgam attack, set against skyrocketing inflation and protests over Khan's arrest, lays bare this pattern of exploiting India as a distraction to dodge domestic accountability. Yet, as Pakistanis grapple with unrelenting economic and security woes, one question looms: how long can the military-ISI alliance sustain this perilous game, prioritizing power over progress?