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What is the story about?
Military aviation historian Tom Cooper’s new book claims that India gained a decisive upper hand during the four-day conflict with Pakistan in May 2025, marking what the author calls a shift in the regional balance of power.
Titled 88-Hours War: India-Pakistan War of May 2025 , the volume has been co-authored by Ravi Rikhye, Sanjay Badri-Maharaj and Mangesh Sawant. It chronicles the military conflict between May 7 and 10, 2025, following the April 22 terrorist attack near Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir that left 26 civilians dead.
Cooper argues that India responded overtly to what it described as a Pakistan-backed attack and directly confronted Islamabad’s nuclear signaling. According to the book, Pakistan authorised ballistic missile strikes on 26 Indian targets, prompting what is described as a swift and calibrated Indian retaliation.
The author claims that within 90 minutes, Indian missile strikes damaged key Pakistani command infrastructure, shut down runways at several Pakistan Air Force bases and hit critical hangars. The book also alleges strikes on underground nuclear storage facilities, although these claims remain part of contested narratives surrounding the conflict.
Islamabad has maintained a completely different position. Pakistan’s National Assembly passed a resolution hailing what it termed a victory, and Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir was promoted to Field Marshal later that month.
A recent report by the Switzerland-based Centre for Military History and Perspective Studies (CHPM) also stated that "the Indian Air Force “managed to significantly degrade the enemy’s air defence systems, then concluded the conflict by carrying out a series of spectacular strikes against Pakistan’s principal Air Force stations. Thus, by achieving clear air superiority India coerced Islamabad into requesting a ceasefire.”
Titled 88-Hours War: India-Pakistan War of May 2025 , the volume has been co-authored by Ravi Rikhye, Sanjay Badri-Maharaj and Mangesh Sawant. It chronicles the military conflict between May 7 and 10, 2025, following the April 22 terrorist attack near Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir that left 26 civilians dead.
Cooper argues that India responded overtly to what it described as a Pakistan-backed attack and directly confronted Islamabad’s nuclear signaling. According to the book, Pakistan authorised ballistic missile strikes on 26 Indian targets, prompting what is described as a swift and calibrated Indian retaliation.
The author claims that within 90 minutes, Indian missile strikes damaged key Pakistani command infrastructure, shut down runways at several Pakistan Air Force bases and hit critical hangars. The book also alleges strikes on underground nuclear storage facilities, although these claims remain part of contested narratives surrounding the conflict.
Islamabad has maintained a completely different position. Pakistan’s National Assembly passed a resolution hailing what it termed a victory, and Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir was promoted to Field Marshal later that month.
A recent report by the Switzerland-based Centre for Military History and Perspective Studies (CHPM) also stated that "the Indian Air Force “managed to significantly degrade the enemy’s air defence systems, then concluded the conflict by carrying out a series of spectacular strikes against Pakistan’s principal Air Force stations. Thus, by achieving clear air superiority India coerced Islamabad into requesting a ceasefire.”
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