‘No surprise Pakistan sounded for ceasefire’: Air war historian Tom Cooper says conflict 'clear-cut victory' for India

The Indian Air Force (IAF) HAL Tejas fighter jet prepares to take off during Aero India 2025, a military aviation exhibition at the Yelahanka Air Force Station in Bengaluru on February 13, 2025.

Austrian military historian and combat aviation analyst Tom Cooper has termed India’s recent aerial offensive against Pakistan a “clear-cut victory,” stating that the lack of a Pakistani retaliatory capability and the targeting of strategic military sites—including nuclear weapons storage facilities—decisively tilted the outcome in India’s favour.

Cooper, considered one of the most respected experts on air warfare globally, commented: “When one side is bombing nuclear weapons storage facilities of the other, and the other has no ability to retaliate left, then that's a clear-cut victory in my books. No surprise Islamabad 'sounded' for a ceasefire.”

The remarks come two days after India and Pakistan announced halting of military action from both sides, following the Indian DGMO being approached his Pakistani counterpart amid the intensifying conflict between the two nuclear-powered countries.

While Pakistani has been claiming the ceasefire as its victory, US President Donald Trump has been quick to credit for the same. However, Cooper’s assessment presents a contrasting picture of the military engagement that preceded the truce.

While Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has hailed the ceasefire as a diplomatic and military success, attributing it to national unity and armed forces’ valour, Cooper’s remarks provide an alternative view, suggesting that the ceasefire was prompted by a military disadvantage rather than strategic parity.

Tom Cooper has authored several authoritative books and analyses on aerial warfare in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. His opinions are widely followed by military observers and policymakers.

In the context of South Asia’s complex military dynamics, Cooper’s analysis may influence global perception of the recent conflict, particularly as India positions itself as a capable and measured military power in the region.

The Indian Armed Forces, in their press briefings, have shown several visual evidences of its strikes causing massive damage to the terror infrastructure in Pakistan and PoK, and then to several air bases of Pakistan in retaliatory actions.