Why does Pakistan exist? PM Modi drops a truth bomb on Islamabad

"Our goal is to eradicate poverty, strengthen the economy, and develop oursevles. Viksit Bharat is only possible when our security forces and economy are strong," he said.

Interestingly, Pakistan army chief (and now Field Marshal) General Asim Munir revealed as much about his country's reality as Modi did in his latest address.

In a venemous speech pre-dating the Pahalgam attack, Munir spoke about the two-nation theory and how Hindus are fundamentally different than Muslims in every aspect of life.

"The two-nation theory was based on the fundamental belief that Muslims and Hindus are two separate nations, not one. Muslims are distinct from Hindus in all aspects of life – religion, customs, traditions, thinking and aspirations," Munir had said.

In the same speech, Munir also spoke about the "sacrifices" made by "our forefathers" to fulfil the two-nation dream and described Kashmir as the "jugular vein" of Pakistan.

Munir's remarks underscored Pakistan's foundational ideology—that it was established on the premise of being distinct from Hindus. Pakistan was perhaps the first country formed on the basis of religion.

Partition and Perdition

The two-nation theory, championed by Pakistan's "Quaid-e-Azam" Muhammad Ali Jinnah, argued that Muslims required a separate homeland to freely practice their religion and preserve their identity.

Jinnah said that Hindus and Muslims belonged to different civilizations, with conflicting philosophies and social customs, making coexistence in a single nation challenging.

But it didn't just end at that.

Over the years, Pakistani military generals made it their life's mission to "bleed India with a thousand cuts" by resorting to proxy warfare and causing instability in Kashmir. In two specific cases, the Pakistani troops intruded into the Indian territory, leading to a wider scale military conflict until they were pushed back by the Indian forces.

The underlying anti-India sentiment was encapsulated in a single line by former PM Zulfikar Bhutto, who famously said in the 1960s that Pakistanis "will eat grass…but we will get our own (atom bomb).”

Over the years, the country, which has found its way to an economic mess, has spent more money on defence than it can realistically afford. The country may not have the resources to feed its burgeoning population but continues to spend more on defence (as % of GDP) than some of the other major world powers.

In FY25, Pakistan's defence spending stood at 2.3% of its GDP — a decline from previous years due to severe economic challenges. It was still higher than India's proportion, which was 2% of its GDP. This, despite India being a stable and growing economy and Pakistan — well, it's already preparing a case for the next bailout.

Cash-strapped Pakistan has now proposed an 18% hike in defence spending following the flare-up with India, pushing the allocation to over Rs 2.5 lakh crore in its 2025-26 budget.

A Failed State

The logic behind the defence splurge and constant romanticism of the two-nation theory ties back to PM Modi's statement about Pakistan's existence: that it lives to spite India — or at least those in power (be it the civilian government or its all-powerful army).

A recent intelligence report by US drives home this point.

The US Defence Intelligence Agency, in its worldwide threat assessment report for 2025, revealed that Pakistan regards India as an "existential threat". Meanwhile, India considers China as its "primary adversary" and Pakistan more of an "ancillary security problem".

"Pakistan regards India as an existential threat and will continue to pursue its military modernization effort, including the development of battlefield nuclear weapons, to offset India's conventional military advantage," the report said.

In many of his speeches, Prime Minister Modi has urged Pakistan to abandon its support for terrorism and instead focus on addressing poverty and development at home. However, Islamabad’s continued pursuit of proxy warfare against India has strained the country's economy and trapped it in a constant cycle of securing bailouts.

In 2024, Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon official, said Pakistan is "already a failed state" and should be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism.

So while India continues to flourish and thrive on the global stage, as highlighted by PM Modi, Pakistan — which barely has much to lose — keeps the terror pot boiling. Statistics don't lie either.

India has pulled far ahead of Pakistan in both economic size and financial market depth. In 2023, India's economy was 10 times larger and its per capita income twice that of Pakistan. While India’s GDP was always bigger due to its population, the real divergence began after 2000. In 2000, Pakistan’s GDP was one-fourth of India’s, but since then, India surged ahead—becoming 5.6 times bigger by 2004, 7.2 times by 2009, and nearly nine times by 2019. In 2023, Pakistan’s per capita income, at 5,439 PPP dollars, was nearly half of India’s.

A look at the stock markets of India and Pakistan also tells a contrasting tale. While the Indian stock market features among the top give globally in terms of market capitalisation with the current valuation pegged at around $5 trillion, the market capitalisation of Karachi Stock Exchange is a paltry $20.36 billion, as per data from Bloomberg.

The question now is whether Pakistan will ever mend its ways and focus more on problems back at home or continue to "harm India", as PM Modi said.

We may not get the answer from Islamabad but PM Modi has made India's new approach to Pakistan clear in his recent speech in Bhuj: "Sukh chain ki zindagi jiyo, roti khao, warna meri goli to hai hi. (If you want a happy and peaceful life, eat bread or else my bullet is there).