India-Pakistan war!!! Spoiler alert:
No, this isn’t about another cricket match or a meme war. We’re diving into how geopolitical tension—including the recent escalations along the India-Pakistan border—is reshaping South Asia’s tech landscape. Think: drones, disrupted networks, cross-border surveillance, and startups pivoting under pressure.
But beyond the headlines and geopolitical jargon are the lived realities—of developers coding through curfews, founders navigating blackouts, and families trying to stay connected as both bombs and bandwidth drop.
A Tale of Two Nations (India-Pakistan) — With Real Conflict
India and Pakistan have long shared a contentious history. But in 2025, things have intensified beyond diplomatic spats. Skirmishes on the Line of Control (LoC), troop mobilizations, and high alert zones are creating ripple effects beyond the battlefield—right into the heart of startup culture and innovation.
For many, it’s no longer about building the next unicorn—it’s about building resilience.
From Frontlines to Firewalls: The Rise of Cyber & Physical Proxy India-Pakistan Wars
As boots hit the ground, bytes hit the servers. Every spike in physical conflict sees a parallel surge in cyber aggression. Government systems are targeted, social media platforms weaponized, and misinformation floods the internet.
2025 Snapshot:
- During the February LoC flare-up, over 300 Indian and Pakistani websites experienced DDoS attacks.
- Telecom infrastructure near border areas was reportedly disrupted—impacting digital service delivery, GPS accuracy, and drone navigation systems.
“We had engineers working overnight to rebuild infrastructure that was wiped out in seconds,” said one Indian cybersecurity founder.
Witty thought: War rooms now come with routers and drone pads.
Drone Startups Caught in Crosshairs of India-Pakistan
Border tension has given rise to a mini drone boom. What started as delivery experiments has evolved into defense-grade reconnaissance.
Dual-Use Tech Surge:
- India’s drone startups like ideaForge and Garuda Aerospace are receiving defense contracts for surveillance near LoC.
- In Pakistan, local UAV startups are reportedly aiding logistics for remote troop areas and border surveillance.
“We used to deliver groceries. Now we monitor borders. The stakes changed overnight,” shared a Pakistani drone engineer.
Human POV: Founders must ask themselves—do we build to save lives or serve strategy?
Telecom Blackouts and Innovation Freeze
War doesn’t just disrupt borders—it disrupts signals. During escalations, mobile internet is often shut down in sensitive zones like Jammu & Kashmir and areas near the Pakistan border.
Impact:
- Startups operating in affected regions report user drop-offs of over 70%.
- Logistics apps can’t track deliveries, healthtech services lose patients mid-consultation.
- Payments and UPI services in remote regions face downtime—crippling fintech operations.
Sana, a healthtech operator in Srinagar, recalls, “One moment I was helping a patient book a consultation. The next moment, silence. No net, no call. Nothing.”
Real stat: In March 2025, a 48-hour blackout in Poonch affected over 2 million digital transactions.
Militarization of AI and Surveillance
AI innovation in both countries is now accelerating with defense motives. Facial recognition, object tracking, predictive threat modeling—all designed for security.
Ongoing Trends:
- India’s iDEX program has rolled out grants for AI-based drone swarms.
- Pakistan is piloting AI systems to monitor troop movements using satellite data.
These tools eventually trickle into the civilian market—powering everything from smart city cameras to retail surveillance.
Witty observation: That face-detection feature in your local mall? It may have started life scanning soldiers at a border post.
Propaganda, Misinformation & the Startup Role
With tensions high, social platforms are seeing a flood of misinformation. Startups in the content moderation space are under pressure to filter hate speech, fake news, and propaganda.
Startups Respond:
- Indian firms are training NLP models to detect region-specific misinformation.
- Pakistani platforms are flagging cross-border disinformation campaigns.
Zara, a content moderator based in Lahore, shares, “We started with memes and trolls. Now we’re trying to detect narratives that could start riots.”
Real founder quote: “We trained our AI to detect trolls, but now it needs to detect military psy-ops.”
No-Go Zones for Innovation
With rising physical conflict, certain regions have turned into no-startup zones. Founders avoid expanding to border states due to unpredictability.
Missed Opportunities:
- Agri-tech in Punjab (India and Pakistan) is underdeveloped despite fertile potential.
- EdTech platforms skip border towns due to connectivity and safety risks.
- Medical supply chains in these regions rely on outdated logistics due to startup hesitancy.
Priya, a logistics startup founder, says, “I want to serve these towns. But with internet bans and security threats, my drivers refuse to go.”
Zinger: Innovation stops where the internet and peace both disappear.
Government Defense Contracts: Blessing or Burden?
Border conflict has opened up lucrative contracts for startups that can provide defense-related solutions. But this money comes with strings.
- Startups now build exclusively for military clients, slowing B2C growth.
- High secrecy, high pressure—leaving founders with NDA fatigue.
Stat: In 2025, over ₹4,500 crore (~$550M) was allocated for defense-tech R&D grants in India alone.
Jatin, founder of a Bengaluru-based AI firm, admits, “The money is great. But I miss working on products people actually use.”
Ethical dilemma: Does patriotism kill innovation freedom?
Bridging the Divide Through Code?
Even amidst war, code doesn’t recognize borders. Open-source projects, diaspora-led startups, and global platforms still quietly enable Indo-Pak collaboration.
Glimmers of Hope:
- A GitHub repo for South Asian COVID datasets had contributors from both nations.
- Diaspora-funded accelerators are quietly mentoring founders from both countries in Dubai and London.
Rehan, a developer in Karachi, says, “I worked with an Indian coder. We didn’t discuss borders—just bugs.”
It’s not kumbaya yet—but it’s a start.
Final Thoughts: The New Frontline of Innovation
The rising heat along the India-Pakistan border isn’t just changing defense strategies—it’s rewriting how startups build, scale, and adapt.
Where there’s conflict, there’s also creation. And in between warzones and firewalls, there are people—builders, dreamers, innovators—trying to make sense of it all.
Final line: Maybe the real ceasefire begins with code—not signatures.
