Over the years, India has emerged as a rising global power with expanding diplomatic, economic, and military clout. Pakistan, on the other hand, remains trapped in a cycle of political instability, economic fragility, and a strategic fixation on Kashmir, propped up by its military-intelligence establishment.

The India-Pakistan crisis has been a persistent and deeply complex geopolitical challenge for over seven decades. The critical question that looms over policymakers, strategists, and citizens alike is this: what is the endgame? To answer this, one must begin by acknowledging that the India-Pakistan crisis has revolved around number of issues with Kashmir being the bone of contention. At the heart of the crisis lies the asymmetry of options available to both states.

Pakistan’s strategic playbook has long rested on a singular card — terrorism — wielded as a tool of asymmetric warfare to bleed India through a thousand cuts. But while this card has caused undeniable pain, especially in a plural and democratic society like India where every life matters and every terror strike reverberates across the political and media spectrum, it is inherently limited. It cannot compel a change in India’s policy, it cannot deliver political gains in Kashmir, and it increasingly carries costs for Pakistan in........

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