News Analysis |
Amid flared-up tensions between India and Pakistan, Foreign Office Spokesman, Nafees Zakariya has warned India against misadventures like surgical strikes as they are detrimental to peace in the region. Zakariya said this in response to the Indian Army Chief, General Rawat’s warning of conducting surgical strikes in Pakistan.
While addressing the weekly news briefing Zakariya said:“Pakistan urges the international community to take notice of such absurd lies and false claims on India’s behalf.” He was referring to a statement by General Rawat earlier this week. The infantry-general while addressing a book-launch event on Monday asserted:”The strikes were a message we wanted to communicate. I think they understood what we meant. These things could follow if required.”
India claimed on this day last year of carrying out a surgical strike across the Line of Control(LoC) which allegedly destroyed terror launchpads. The strike has not been verified as yet; Pakistan denied the event while the UN and international media did not find proofs to back Indian claims.
Tensions are mounting between the two neighbors. The war of words between the arch-rivals was one of the highlights of the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Zakariya said:“In 2016, the then director general ISPR Lt General Asim Salim Bajwa also described the Indian claim of carrying out a surgical strike as totally baseless. To prove, he took national and international media representatives to the area where India had claimed to have conducted surgical strikes.”
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Tensions are mounting between the two neighbors. The war of words between the arch-rivals was one of the highlights of the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly. While India called Pakistan an export factory of terrorism, Pakistan called India the “mother of terrorism” in the region. Concomitant to the diplomatic tussle was a military one and that too on the Working Boundary.
General Rawat, who doesn’t shy away from giving statements said that his forces must be prepared for a simultaneous two-front war with China and Pakistan.
After the announcement of the new South Asia policy, India appears to have been bolstered in its efforts to teach Pakistan a lesson for its alleged support for terrorism.US diatribes against Pakistan’s alleged provision of sanctuaries to terrorists were followed by the BRICS declaration which named Lashkar-e-Taiba among others as propellants of violence in the region.
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India, feeling that even China has reprimanded its ally, has taken to provocative statements to threaten Pakistan. Earlier this month Commander of the Kashmir-based Northern Command, Lt Gen Devraj Anbu said that his forces would breach the LoC in hot pursuit of miscreants. General Rawat, who doesn’t shy away from giving statements said that his forces must be prepared for a simultaneous two-front war with China and Pakistan.
Besides, if the aim of India is to deter and compel Pakistan, a surgical strike would just do the opposite as the country would demand retaliation instead of softness with Delhi.
Given the nature of Indo-Pak ties, geography, military deployment and the possession of nuclear weapons, a surgical strike, if carried out in actuality, will be detrimental to peace in the region.As the term surgical suggests, it is a precise military attack on just a legitimate military target. It is usually conducted by air and/or special forces. The idea is to only engage a military installation with surprise and an element of secrecy. The LoC is heavily-manned; a classical surgical strike is not tactically untenable but it will have strategic consequences. One that Pakistan will engage the attackers, which will halt the strike. Two, Pakistan could absorb the strike and then retaliate, thus initiating a spiral. Risking an escalation for the sake of chasing alleged militants is least desired for the even-otherwise tenuous stability in the region.
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The environment is hostile to an extent which disallows any such adventures. Besides, if the aim of India is to deter and compel Pakistan, a surgical strike would just do the opposite as the country would demand retaliation instead of softness with Delhi. Any attempts to up the ante by either of the two countries will be disastrous for peace in South Asia.