India, a self-proclaimed secular state, is the world’s largest democracy with a diverse population. The social fabric of the state is strained by internal divisions along religious lines. At its root lies the policies of the BJP-led Indian government, influenced by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideology. They not only sow discord but also increase the marginalisation of minorities, resulting in incidents of insurgencies and separatist movements, particularly in Kashmir and the North-east region. Despite the existence of internal turmoil, India’s repeated projection of Pakistan as a terrorism-sponsoring state is thus a tactic of deflecting attention from its fault lines.
Hindutva ideology expresses Hindu beliefs, values, and attitudes. Contradicting the idea of ‘secular India’, this ideology manifests intolerance towards followers of other faiths. Several policies of the BJP government, which are explicitly targeting Muslims, have sparked a nationwide debate and criticism, including the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), the Waqf Act Amendments, and the recent cast-based census demand. Moreover, BJP leaders’ negative statements about minorities, anti-Muslim riots, denying Muslims the right to practice their religion, and treating RSS culprits with leniency for brutally killing Muslims are part of Hindutva’s plan to exclude minorities.
Since the War of Independence, the Illegally Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK), a Muslim majority region, has held resentment against the Indian government. These grievances increased when Articles 360 and 35A were abrogated, scrapping the special status of IIOJK. Revocation of these articles led to militarisation, mass detentions of local political leaders, and lockdowns in Kashmir. Amid the crisis, the Indian government tried to portray the abrogation as a measure of counterterrorism and national integration. However, the ground realities reflected heightened aggression and frustration among Kashmiris that led to resistance movements.
Naxalite-Maoist – a guerrilla-style and left-wing extremist insurgency against the government of India, particularly in central and eastern regions, is another notable case in point. Some of the most disturbed regions, such as Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Manipur, are heavily militarised under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). According to the 2024 Terrorism Assessment Report of South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), India has recorded 36 terrorism incidents by left-wing insurgents that took the lives of 30 civilians and 15 security personnel.
As of May 2025, numerous new terror incidents have already been recorded in India, including the Bijapur IED attack on 6th January that killed 8 security personnel and a driver, Bijapur Clash on the same day that killed two security personnel, Kathua Clash on 28th March that killed 4 police officers, and then the Pahalgam attack on 22nd April that took lives of 26 civilians. Keeping this in view, the possibility cannot be ruled out that India, in the future, may conveniently accuse Pakistan of any terror attack that occurs due to internal insurgency.
India has continuously framed Pakistan as the perennial enemy and terrorism-sponsoring state, without verifiable evidence, underscoring New Delhi’s hidden motives. Indian PM Modi labelled Pakistan as the ‘mothership of terrorism’ to ratchet the international pressure against it. This not only stops here, he further stated, ‘terrorism is the war strategy of Pakistan’. Even Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh urged the IMF to block the loan, as ‘any economic assistance to Pakistan will be used in funding terror’ – despite the objection IMF approved the loan of 1 billion USD. BJP’s anti-Pakistan statements project it as a nationalistic party to win public support for a long-term stay in government and assist it in deflecting public attention from internal issues. These allegations against Islamabad are sensationalised by Bollywood movies, such as Uri (2019) directly indicates that Pakistan is orchestrating and sponsoring terrorist attacks in India, Fighter (2024) is another movie that portrays terrorism emanating from Pakistan, and many other movies released to distort the image of Islamabad to display the government’s narratives and to fuel public sentiments.
Pakistan has consistently denied the allegations of India both at the national and international levels. The premier in Islamabad a number of times has criticised New Delhi for continuing with the perpetual blame game, the pattern of exploitation, and baseless allegations without any verifiable evidence or credible investigation. After the Pahalgam attack, to debunk India’s disinformation campaign against Pakistan, PM Shahbaz has offered an ‘open, transparent, and credible’ investigation of the event, which India paid no attention to consider, indicating its rigidity in pursuing its vicious narrative against Pakistan.
However, as time passes, the international community has realised that India is only politicising its terrorism stance against Pakistan. Despite the US’s concerns about militant groups in Pakistan, it has acknowledged India’s strategic posturing; thus, always calls for a dialogue between the two states to settle their matter. Several resolutions on terrorism at the UN, an Indian attempt to scapegoat Pakistan for terrorist-sponsoring, have been blocked by the member states, particularly China, which shows India has failed to shape an international unified response against Pakistan. Islamabad has pitched a responsible image at the international level against the New Delhi diplomatic war.
India’s baseless allegations against Pakistan come with a substantial cost that not only strains the bilateral relationship but also threatens regional stability. No matter if India’s temptation to strike Pakistan seems strong, doing so always brings huge risks. The recent stand-off of May 2025 reached an unprecedented level than the last flare-up. Undeniably, New Delhi’s quick blame game and military aggression against Islamabad have further hindered the potential of rational discourse and lowered the threshold for escalation.
Looking ahead, New Delhi must prudently consider the risks of any other reckless misadventure against Pakistan to maintain regional security, instead of escalating tensions. Rather than continuing with its strategy of a blame game against Pakistan, New Delhi should carefully find ways to tackle internal insurgencies through inclusive policies. At the bilateral level, both states should cooperate in fighting against terrorism through cooperation, based on shared intelligence, and the exchange of policy ideas, rather than propaganda. Taking these steps can foster a stable region and encourage trust between both states to further seek avenues for long-term cooperation.
The writer is a Research Assistant at the Centre for Aerospace & Security Studies (CASS), Islamabad, Pakistan, and can be reached at cass.thinkers @casstt.com