Pakistan issues a nuclear ultimatum for Indian withdrawal from Azad Kashmir. Fearing that Pakistan would use its nuclear weapons, India launches an unsuccessful conventional strike on the former's nuclear capabilities. The US intelligence shows that Islamists in Pakistan are seizing the remaining Pakistani nuclear weapons. The extraordinary US action is also motivated by a desire to preempt a full-scale nuclear exchange between Pakistan and India. The US strikes by deploying deep penetration warheads launched from B-2 bombers to destroy Pakistan's remaining nuclear forces.
Total anarchy prevails in Pakistan.
The Indian army moves in to restore order. As the country disintegrates, Pakistan's regions accede incrementally to India. The Sindhi, Baluch, and North West Frontier Province parliaments vote to join an Indian-led confederation. An Indian Confederation emerges. India's central government grants extensive internal autonomy to the Erstwhile Pakistani Provinces which are now confederal units within India in exchange for control over their defence and foreign policies.