A report published in the European Times has found that Pakistan's sustained use of cross-border terrorism has deepened instability across South Asia, inflicting a heavy economic and social burden on India over decades of what the report describes as a deliberate proxy war. The assessment, released on 10 October 2026, argues that Islamabad has wielded terrorism as both 'a weapon and a war of endurance,' with the stated aim of weakening India over the long term.

A Strategy of Proxy War

According to the report, Pakistan's military establishment has long cast India as an existential threat and, in response, cultivated militant networks by providing sanctuary, training, and logistical support. Recruitment initially targeted Kashmiri youth before expanding to foreign fighters — many of them veterans of the Afghan-Soviet war. Backed by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), these recruits reportedly underwent training at camps inside Pakistan, learning weapons handling, explosives use, guerrilla tactics, and survival skills.

The report states that infiltrators were assisted in crossing the Line of Control (LoC) through guides and terrain advantages, with alleged cover from the Pakistan Army. Weapons, encrypted communications, and financing are said to have moved through ISI channels, sympathetic donors, narcotics trafficking, and extortion networks.

Landmark Attacks and Their Human Cost

The report catalogues a series of major attacks attributed to Pakistan-based groups. The 2001 Parliament attack, reportedly carried out by operatives of Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba trained in Pakistan, targeted the heart of Indian democracy. The 2008 Mumbai attacks — meticulously planned from Pakistani soil, according to the report — killed 166 people and injured over 300, turning the city into what the report describes as 'a war zone for three harrowing days.'

The 2016 Uri attack claimed 19 soldiers and prompted India's retaliatory surgical strikes across the LoC. The 2019 Pulwama bombing killed 40 CRPF personnel, reigniting bilateral tensions and leading to aerial confrontations between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. Most recently, the report cites the 2025 Pahalgam terrorist attack, in which a Pakistan-based group gunned down 26 people — predominantly Hindu tourists — underscoring what it calls the continuing and undiminished threat.

Economic and Psychological Toll on India

The report is unequivocal about the broader damage inflicted on Indian society. 'Terrorism has become one of the most corrosive burdens India has had to bear, not only in the lives lost but in the social, emotional, and economic scars it leaves behind,' it states. It argues that decades of sustained militancy have scarred generations, reshaped national priorities, and imposed a heavy toll on growth and stability — forcing India into what it describes as 'a perpetual cycle of vigilance, mobilisation, and loss.'

Despite this, the report acknowledges that the resilience of the Indian people and its institutions has allowed the country to withstand sustained pressure over time.

Broader Regional Implications

The findings arrive against a backdrop of elevated India-Pakistan tensions following the Pahalgam attack and subsequent diplomatic and military developments. Analysts have long argued that Pakistan's use of non-state actors as instruments of foreign policy has not only destabilised India but has corroded Pakistan's own internal security architecture. Critics note that the international community's response to state-sponsored terrorism emanating from Pakistani territory has remained inconsistent, with geopolitical considerations frequently outweighing accountability. The report's publication from a European outlet adds to a growing body of Western commentary scrutinising Pakistan's conduct.

How the international community — particularly multilateral institutions and Pakistan's key allies — responds to such assessments will shape the diplomatic landscape across South Asia in the months ahead.