How May 2025 recast Pakistan’s Military Role: Full-Spectrum Deterrence and New Alliances

DND Report: Full Spectrum Deterrence (FSD) is the Core Doctrine Concept of Pakistan’s military strategy that is anchored in Pakistan’s Minimum Deterrence Posture (MDP). One can say that this is an answer to India’s Cold Start doctrine.
FSD encompasses a “robust tri-services inventory” across strategic, operational, and tactical levels, managed by the Army Strategic Forces Command (ASFC), Naval Strategic Forces Command (NSFC), and Air Force Strategic Command (AFSC).
The May 2025 conflict with India, (Marka-e-Haq) showcased FSD’s effectiveness when Pakistan destroyed seven Indian fighter jets including four Rafales, one MiG-29, one Su-30, and one Mirage 2000, plus an Israeli Heron UAV). The world is still in shock to watch Pakistan’s ability to neutralize advanced aerial threats and its conventional deterrence because military hardware balance has always been in favour of India and global strategists always believe that Pakistan has only one option of deterrence and that is nuclear option.
The May 2025 victory over India, involved a “humiliating defeat” of Indian forces, due to Pakistan’s planning and operational prowess under Field Marshal Asim Munir. The destruction of advanced Indian hardware (e.g., Rafales) suggests a qualitative edge, possibly through indigenous upgrades, electronic warfare, or tactical innovation, challenging the narrative of Western-supplied military dominance and this military theater has shifted global perceptions, positioning Pakistan as a conventional deterrent force capable of protecting itself without talking about nuclear option and this development placed Pakistan at higher pedestal of security provider to its allies rather than only a security stabilizer in the region. Pak-Saudi security arrangements should be viewed through this lens rather than spectrum of “Muslim brotherly countries” because Pakistan is open for signing such contracts with other countries as well irrespective of their religious background.
Pakistan’s role as a “security provider” as UN peacekeeping forces had always been lauded globally and now the same force is ready for beyond borders deployments for protecting allies such as Saudi Arabia and the mutual defense pact signed on September 17, 2025 between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia indicates a strategy of projecting kinetic power to stabilize allied Gulf states amid regional instability, such as Israel’s attack on Qatar.
Despite economic challenges, Pakistan leverages military exports to sustain its conventional forces, balancing regional security commitments with domestic needs. Pakistan’s military export is growing with every passing day as African and Central Asian countries are showing their interests for buying weapons from Pakistan. The pact with Saudi Arabia, signed in Riyadh, commits both nations to mutual defense against aggression will enhance its strategic leverage in the Middle East amid shifting global dynamics post-Israel’s Qatar strike.
Security experts believe that Pakistan is now working to verify not only Regional but somewhat Global threats having the capacity of targeting beyond the neighboring countries because Israel was very much present and involved on attacking Pakistan at May 2025 Indo-Pak theater. No doubt is left that Israel as always is planning to harm Pakistan directly or indirectly through India therefore Pakistan’s defence strategy cannot remain India-centric. The May 2025 conflict has exposed India’s diplomatic isolation (only Israel as Afghanistan minced words of India) and military vulnerabilities, hence Pakistan does not want to waste time and is redesigning, rearranging and reviewing its global engagements.
Israel’s attack on Qatar worked as catalyst for the Saudi-Pakistan pact, reflects Pakistan’s strategy to counter Western-backed aggression in the Middle East that had been considering that Israel would not touch US allies in the region. However, the response of United State over Israeli attack on Qatar had been a reality check for NATO friendly Middle East, confirming that post-WWII institutions (UN, ICC) are ineffective and the world is divided into Muslim and Non-Muslim and NATO and non-NATO and Middle Eastern countries must manage delicate balancing of relations with Pakistan, China, Russia, Iran, and the U.S., using military exercises and defense sales to diversify dependencies while managing historical ties with Washington.
When contacted to comment, Foreign Affairs expert Dr Shazia Anwer Cheema was of the opinion that Pakistan’s military strategy integrates FSD, conventional kinetic power, and strategic alliances to transition from a regional stabilizer to a global security provider, leveraging nuclear and conventional capabilities to deter aggression and protect allies. Field Marshal Asim Munir has positioned Pakistan as a pivotal player in a reconfigured, multipolar world order challenged by the failures of Western-led institutions. Classical and conventional institutions (UN, ICC, ICJ, World Bank and IMF) are decaying and showing their uselessness and unfortunately the world is moving back to primitive settings where every tribe had to protect itself therefore Pakistan is choosing what it should have been and that is to have its own sword, horse ready and the courage to attack enemies instead of outsourcing security to dead horses such as United Nations or to trembling Global North.