Pakistan is facing multiple threats of grave nature externally. It is facing aggressive Indian designs after extremist Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has ended the special status of Jummu and Kashmir. Indian forces continue a lockdown and curfew in Kashmir and also have martyred many innocent people protesting against illegal actions. The situation could worsen if India continues with its hegemonic designs.

Pakistan’s forces, especially, Pak Army and Rangers, have been responding to India’s unprovoked firing at the Line of Control (LoC) boldly inside Pakistani side of Kashmir. Tensions further increased on August 16 when Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh threatened Pakistan with nuclear war. In response, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan also gave a befitting reply.

On August 7, unity was witnessed by the ruling party, the PI, opposition parties, the PPP and the PML-N, and religious parties when a joint session of the parliament unanimously passed a resolution in condemnation of India’s unilateral and illegal move to scrap Kashmir’s special status, as enshrined in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions and deployment of additional troops and atrocities in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Earlier, addressing the joint session of the parliament, Prime Minister Imran Khan said: “India’s decision to end the special status of occupied Kashmir will have repercussions globally. This may lead to incidents like Pulwama (attack), for which India will blame Pakistan. This will lead to problems in Azad Kashmir. If they attack us, we will retaliate. Where is the end to this? All parties will lose that war. A conventional war between two nuclear armed nations will have global consequences”.

The two neighbouring countries have already fought three wars on the Kashmir issue, while the possibility of the fourth war cannot be ruled out in the wake of war-hysteria created by Indian Premier Modi. Military thinkers agree that although the physical force will determine the type and scale of war, yet it is the ‘will to fight’ or ‘moral force’ that determines the outcome of a war. Clausewitz puts it this way, “One might say that the physical force seems little more than the wooden hilt, while moral factors are the precious metal, the real weapon.”

In his book, “Fighting Power: German and U.S. Army Performance, 1939-1945”, Creveld identifies the elements of ‘moral force’, whom he calls “fighting power, the willingness to fight and the readiness, if necessary, to die”. The greater the elements, the less vulnerable an armed force will be to demoralization. ‘Moral force’, then, is the crucial factor in determining the combat power of any belligerent.

During the 1965 war, elements like the will to fight and moral force were more found in the personnel of Pakistan’s armed forces than those of India. When, on September 6, 1965, India started the war, and its forces crossed the international border on the western front in Lahore, Pakistan’s armed forces quickly responded. An Indian regiment had also crossed the BRB canal and captured the town of Batapur. The same day, a counteroffensive by Pakistanis soldiers, consisting of an armoured division and infantry division, forced the Indian 15th Division to withdraw to its starting point. In this context, the credit goes to the all men of Pak Army, who were deployed in the Lahore areas of Wahgah, Burki etc. Without bothering for their lives, they fought bravely. Among them, Major Raja Aziz Bhatti played a huge role in the outcome of the Lahore battle and was martyred.

In case of Sialkot, several soldiers of the Pak Army sacrificed their lives to stop advancement of Indian tanks. The 1965 war witnessed some of the largest tank battles since World War II, and was fought at Chawinda in Sialkot sector. The Battle of Chawinda resulted into victory of Pakistan whose armoured forces destroyed 120 tanks of India.

The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) emerged victorious in the I965 war against the Indian Air Force (IAF). At the cost of their personal safety, the personnel of PAF defeated India. During the war, the PAF had destroyed 100 Indian aircraft on ground and in the air, while damaged more than 10—not counting the undermined losses inflicted by PAF’s night bombing. In this respect, Squadron Leader M. M. Alam set new records in history of air warfare by defending Pakistan’s airspace, and shot down five Indian aircraft in less than sixty seconds at Sargodha.

The role of the Pakistan Navy in the Indo-Pak war of 1965 was also appreciable. Securing Pakistan’s coasts, it played a vital role in defeating India. The Operation Dawarka was launched by Pakistan on September 7. Indian town of Dwarka was chosen to be a target of the attack. The Pakistani operation was successful and its warships harboured in Bombay, making the Indian Navy unable to sortie. In this context, Ghazi, the only submarine successfully attacked heavy ships of the Indian Navy.

In fact, it was due to the ‘moral force’ that despite Indian surprise invasion in 1965 and the qualitative and numerical superiority over Pakistan, while showing courage, and by sacrificing their lives, the Pakistani forces not only recaptured the territories from India, but also took Khem Karan from the Indian forces, including various regions of Rajasthan, Sindh, and Chumb in Kashmir. The Indian defeat was owing to demoralization of its soldiers.

As regards internal challenges, by imbibing the same spirit of the 1965 war, Pakistan’s armed forces, during the successful military operations, Zarb-e-Azb, Radd-ul-Fasaad and Operation Khyber 4 have killed many terrorists through ground offensive and many of them surrendered. In street fighting, without bothering for their lives, and by air-dropping commandos at the risky places, our forces made a great headway in disrupting the militant’s supply routes and links.

Pakistan’s armed forces and intelligence agency ISI have successfully broken the backbone of the foreign-backed terrorists. Peace has been restored in Balochistan and Karachi, including other vulnerable regions. At this crucial time, Pakistan is facing crises and challenges like corruption, soaring prices, unemployment, crimes, lack of health facilities, and dependence upon the US-led developed countries, IMF and World Bank for financial aid. Our politicians and political parties must work hard to make Pakistan a self-reliant and respected country of the world.