Since 26/11 the hawks in India have been singing the war tune. Thankfully there seem to be some sensible people in power who recognize that, regardless of whether Pakistan co-operates in bringing the perpetrators to justice or not, a war with nuclear-armed Pakistan is not feasible.
We must face the reality that India vs Pakistan is not like Israel vs Palestine where one side can simple pummel the other. A war will mean huge losses for India as well. And we might not even come to a stage where we can win it given that US, China and others are likely to intervene, either diplomatically like in 1948, or even militarily. And we certainly don’t want Delhi and Mumbai to be nuked even if we manage to nuke the whole of Pakistan in return. This catastrophe is simply unacceptable.
Also, in the unlikely event that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are neutralized and we manage to defeat Pakistan what will we do? Many areas of Pakistan are not in its control today and we won’t be able to exercise control there either. Look at what is happening in Afghanistan and Iraq. If the sole superpower of the world can’t handle occupation of a foreign country, guessing the plight of an Indian force occupying Pakistan is a no-brainer.
I’m not saying we should not do anything. There are other options we can and should be trying. Some of these are
1) Build pressure through international community – An all-out war on the diplomatic front is the 1st and foremost thing we should do. We need to give the international community concrete proof of Pakistan’s complicity in 26/11 and other attacks. We should go hammer-and-tongs in all bilateral and multilateral for a about Pakistan’s role as the ‘terror’ capital of the world. It should not just be words but irrefutable proof which would stand in a court of law. I’m afraid the track record of our investigation agencies in this matter is very poor and it’s the biggest shortcoming we have
At the same time we should be careful to emphasize that it is rogue, but extremely powerful, elements in Pakistani’s military & political establishment that are responsible for the terror and not Pakistani citizens in general. It makes no sense to alienate all Pakistanis in general. Pakistani citizens are as much a victim of terror as we are and we should sympathize with them through all media available to us. Our aim should be to alienate the hardliners in Pakistan.
2) Spend more on defense. Revamp the intelligence network – Over the years we have neglected our defense capabilities. We must invest heavily in hi-tech surveillance equipment and fence the remaining border with Pakistan to prevent trespassing by militants. Ditto for our ‘open’ seas. Our defense forces need cutting-edge ammo, not sub-standard equipment dished out by our PSUs. There should be no compromise on quality as far as defense equipment is concerned.
Our intelligence network is in shables. Multiple agencies, no-cordination, the list of what's wrong can go on. An urgent revamp is necessary
3) Economic war – Cripple Pakistan’s economy by hitting their exports. Give subsidies in whatever form feasible (keeping in mind WTO and other obligations) or take steps to make Indian exporters who compete with Pakistan’s major exports more competitive. Shut down the routes taken by terror funding. Undoubtably, Swiss banks would be a major conduit.
4) Surgical strikes – While a full-scale invasion is not feasible surgical strikes can be tried. We know the co-ordinates on many of the terror camps. These strikes may provoke some border skirmishes from Pakistan and calls for peace from international community but I doubt a full-fledged attack from Pakistan. It is something worth thinking about.
5) Diplomatic ties – I would have no objection to breaking off diplomatic and other ties (cricket, films, actors, etc) if only to put across the point that enough is enough. Pakistan’s people also need to pressurize their govt. to act against terror.
6) Kashmir – We can keep shouting from the rooftops that Kashmir is an integral part of India and that it is a bilateral issues b/w India and Pakistan. But that is far from the truth. On what basis do we have a right to rule Kashmir? An accession treaty signed by a Maharaja? How can a democratic nation cite an instrument from an unelected ruler? Didn’t we have a duty to hold a referendum? And if a maharaja’s word is word of the people then why did we annex Hyderabad from the Nizam? He wanted his state to be part of Pakistan. It is sheer hypocrisy on our part. History cannot be undone now but I feel it s high time we took serious steps to convince Kashmiris that they are better off being part of India, hold a referendum in the Kashmir we occupy and show the world that we are right. If we fail in this the let Kashmir go. True, this would raise the spectre of separatism in TN, Punjab and elsewhere but that cannot be a reason for not trying to solve the Kashmir problem. It would be the best test to decide whether this motley group of states called India deserves to be called a nation.
7) Muslims in India – Atrocities by Hindutva forces (RSS, VHP and their affiliates) only acts as fuel to stoke passions against India across the border. We must take tough action against these elements. And also against Muslim organisations like SIMI which mislead Muslims and turn them into terrorists. This vicious cycle of we kill you and you kill us needs to be stopped somewhere.
Even if we take action on a few of these fronts we may reap rich rewards.
