BASIC Report: May 2025 India-Pakistan Crisis Most Severe Since 1971

The British American Security Information Council (BASIC) published a detailed analysis on March 31, 2026 describing the May 2025 India-Pakistan military confrontation (Operation Sindoor and Pakistan's retaliatory exchanges) as the most severe military confrontation between the two nuclear-armed nations since the 1971 war. The analysis assessed that the crisis came closer to nuclear use than any previous incident, with both sides deploying nuclear-capable delivery systems to alert status. BASIC noted that US President Trump's direct intervention with both Prime Minister Modi and Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir was pivotal in engineering a ceasefire on May 10, 2025. The report called for renewed efforts to establish nuclear risk reduction measures between India and Pakistan, including hotlines and pre-notification protocols for missile tests.