SIGMA Futures
South Asia · Nuclear rivalry · 12-month forecast

India–Pakistan

Probability of conflict between India and Pakistan, two nuclear-armed neighbours
60%
below the threshold of combat
40%
kinetic risk over the horizon
2
58
36
4
threshold of combat
Negotiated settlement 2%
No kinetic resolution 58%
Limited military action 36%
Major operation 4%
Two non-kinetic outcomes
Two kinetic outcomes
Settled — a settlement is in place2%
Open — the dispute continues below the threshold of combat, no settlement58%
Both remain below the threshold of combat. They differ in whether the underlying dispute has been settled.
Limited military action — military force is used, short of a major campaign36%
Major operation — a full-scale or multi-axis military campaign4%
Both cross the threshold of combat. The threshold is the use of military force: shots fired, a strike, an armed seizure. Ramming, water cannon and boardings remain below it, however serious, unless military force follows.

A 60% chance the coming year stays below the threshold of combat — a ceasefire that holds under friction, a nuclear ceiling above it, and outside mediation that helped close the last round.

The committed forecast
On the record COMMITTED
ledger idIND-PAK · 2026-07
committed2026-07-21
resolves2027-07-21
horizon12 months
frameworkSIGMA
confidencewide · ±18 pts
Resolution. Scored at horizon against the realised outcome — no kinetic conflict, a limited action, or a major operation — and logged to the append-only ledger.
Cite this forecast
SIGMA Futures Group assesses a 60% probability of no kinetic India–Pakistan conflict in the twelve months to 21 July 2027, with a 36% limited-action tail.
SIGMA Forecast Ledger · IND-PAK · 2026-07

This decomposition reflects SIGMA's published judgement as of the assessed date. It is a committed, point-in-time position rather than a live figure; ongoing working analysis is available to members.

Forecast evolution record building
No kinetic resolution Negotiated settlement Limited military action Major operation
Four-way outcome probability at each committed vintage. Nodes are the assessments; connecting lines are indicative only.
Strategic timeline
Historical
  1. 1947–48India and Pakistan fight their first war over Kashmir following the partition of British India.
  2. 1949A ceasefire line is established in Kashmir.
  3. 1965India and Pakistan fight their second war.
  4. 1971A third war ends with the independence of Bangladesh.
  5. 1972India and Pakistan sign the Simla Agreement.
  6. 1998India and Pakistan each conduct nuclear weapons tests.
  7. 1999The two engage in armed conflict in the Kargil sector.
  8. 2008Militants based in Pakistan carry out coordinated attacks in Mumbai.
  9. 2019India revokes the special autonomous status of Jammu and Kashmir.
Recent developments
  1. April 2025A militant attack on tourists in Pahalgam, Indian-administered Kashmir, kills 26 civilians.
  2. May 2025India conducts cross-border missile and air strikes on militant sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
  3. May 2025India and Pakistan agree a ceasefire after a four-day conflict.

Curated for strategic significance, not completeness. The timeline provides context; the Foundation Paper explains the assessment.

Questions this forecast addresses

What are the likely outcomes of an India–Pakistan conflict?

SIGMA's forecast resolves the confrontation into four possible outcomes over the coming twelve months: a continuation of the current armed standoff below the level of open military action; a limited military exchange short of full-scale war; a full-scale war; and a durable negotiated settlement of the underlying disputes. The committed probabilities for each outcome are set out above.

Will India and Pakistan go to war?

"War" can mean two materially different things here, and SIGMA assigns them to different outcomes, each with its own committed probability. A limited exchange — cross-border strikes, an air or missile clash, or a multi-day operation of the kind seen in 2019 and again in 2025 — is tracked as one outcome. A full-scale war involving sustained operations, deep air campaigns, and attempts to seize and hold territory is tracked as another. The two are not the same event, and the assessment above shows how each is weighed.

Will there be a nuclear war between India and Pakistan?

A nuclear exchange is treated as an extreme escalation pathway within the full-scale-war outcome, rather than as a separate outcome the forecast tracks. The assessment therefore does not assign a standalone probability to "nuclear war"; the risk is represented within the broader distribution above.

What would change this forecast?

The assessment identifies the specific developments that would move it, and ties each to the outcome it would shift. SIGMA tracks these markers, and members receive its interim reading as the situation develops.

Intended use

A calibrated read of one question — to be weighed against your own judgement. SIGMA is designed for decisions where understanding the strategic context matters more than following daily headlines.

Members

Foundation Paper in preparation.

The committed forecast above is the current read on this dyad. Its Foundation Paper is in the programme; the papers published so far are in the member area.

Members

The reasoning behind the forecast.

The Foundation Paper sets out the complete analytical case behind this assessment — the strategic dynamics, the incentives, the competing pathways, and the calibration underlying SIGMA's published forecast. Membership opens the full case, continuing analysis as it develops, and the Strategic Intelligence Dashboard for a wider view of this and other active dyads.

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Related theatres
Other theatres tracked by SIGMA.
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