Asim Munir's 'Defence Doctrine': India Watches Pakistan's Nuclear-Backed Military Expansion

• Pakistan, under Asim Munir, is aggressively pursuing a 'defence diplomacy' doctrine to expand its military and strategic footprint across Muslim nations.
• Islamabad is pitching itself as a reliable arms supplier and strategic partner, leveraging its nuclear status as an implicit bargaining tool, offering 'strategic cover' to friendly states.
• The strategy intensified after a mutual defence understanding with Saudi Arabia, with other nations like Turkey, Bangladesh, Libya, and Sudan exploring similar arrangements.
• Pakistan aims for $8 billion in defence exports for fiscal 2025–26, targeting $20 billion over 3-5 years, despite internal economic and political instability.
• India views this as a direct security concern, wary of Pakistan's history of using military partnerships and nuclear signalling to advance hostile agendas.

Why It Matters: Pakistan's new 'defence diplomacy' with nuclear undertones raises significant regional instability concerns for India.