Al arms race raises escalation fears in South Asia after India-Pakistan clash

India and Pakistan’s brief but intense confrontation in early May 2025 has drawn renewed attention to the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI) in warfare and the risks it poses to strategic stability in South Asia, said a report published by South Asian Voices yesterday.

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The report, tiled ‘Next Generation Air Warfare in South Asia: Risks and Way Forward,’ said that the conflict, involving around 125 aircraft, long-range missiles, drones and Al-enabled targeting systems, marked one of the first instances in decades in which major cities and military installations in the region were directly struck using Al-assisted technologies. Observers say the episode offered a troubling glimpse into the future of conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

Traditionally, escalation in crises was expected to follow a series of steps, including detection, verification, political deliberation and execution.

Analysts note that Al-enabled systems increasingly compress or bypass these stages altogether, accelerating decision-making while reducing human oversight. This shift risks moving conflict management away from human-led decision cycles towards faster, algorithm-driven processes that prioritise speed and predefined objectives over judgement and restraint.