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Bilateral relations

tory in Balakot, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Pakistan has against India to forestall own country and the sacrifices his
Then and now, instead putting the stra- a war despite grave provocations. country has made in combating terror-
tegic channels at forefront — a condi- Nuclear card is the weapon Paki- ism. “It is not in Pakistan’s interest to let
tion for ‘virtual war’ was forced on by a stan routinely uses to conduct and our land be used for terrorism. There is
chime-like section of Indian media. facilitate the waging an asymmetrical no dispute there,” Prime Minister Khan
While the situation called for a war through groups of Jihadis such continued.
measured strategic and diplomatic as the Jaish-e-Mohammad, the one It is no secret most murderous Jihad-
move to come heavy on terror network responsible for the devastating attack is who have taken up arms against the
and without breaking the spine of in- on Indian security forces in Kashmir on Pakistani state and society were once
stitutional dialogue, the ‘newsrooms’ February 14. sheltered, aided and abetted by the
virtually hijacked the discourse and The Pakistani Prime Minister’s stark state itself to wage proxy wars in India
displayed an unprecedented disdain for message of “don’t mess with us; we have and Afghanistan. The riddle then is why
logic and real-life wisdom. It reached nukes” came after the retaliatory action the country is still hell-bent on using
from bad to worse, as the government as Pakistani aircraft crossed the LoC to Jihadi terror groups as foreign policy
opted to score over opposition parties target ‘non-military’ targets whose “sole instruments. The Jaish-e-Mohammad,
instead calling an all-party meeting and purpose was to demonstrate our right, for instance, operates freely in Pakistan
press conference. will and capability for self-defense”. The and yet, notice the gumption to say it is
Sensing New India’s reaction, New Pakistani strikes not just dampened not in its interest to let its land used for
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran terrorism in India.
Khan had shown maturity during his India has achieved very little long-
address to the nation from Parliament A war can’t be term strategic advantage through the
on February 27, bringing the word Balakot strike, but thanks to it, Paki-
‘miscalculation’ as to underline the imagined without the stan has got the Kashmir dispute a lot
essential mortality of wars. Urging prospect of peace, rest of international publicity as the world’s
India to settle matters through talks, he most dangerous ‘nuclear flashpoint’.
said: “All wars are miscalculated, and the chapters of history However, India responds to the terror
no one knows where they lead to.... I ask inform well about attack orchestrated from across the
India: with the weapons you have and western border, the diplomatic as well
the weapons we have, can we really evil design of terror as military challenge for India is how
afford such a miscalculation?” to neutralize the nuclear weapons by
At the end of speech, he gave the and inconsolable making them deterrents of war.
words of releasing Wing Commander losses. Unadulterated As the first phase of the Parliamen-
Abhinandan and de-escalated a war- tary elections are over in the country,
like situation. If the words of Imran strategy must be given the sensitivity of India-Pakistan needs
Khan on other matters are kept and due consideration to be understood by the political ac-
sustain further in spirit and deeds as tors who hold real power and their
well, we may hope for a ‘New South ‘miscalculations’ could harm both civil
Asia’ that would neither let war-hyste- the triumphalist mood in India but also and military sphere. In election mode,
ria go over head of ‘unholy sinners’ nor knocked the bottom out of India’s strat- it would be advisable for everyone to
glorify ‘million mutinies’ for cheap con- egy of using ‘non-military’ strikes inside desist from making score through the
siderations and nasty goals! Pakistani territory to avenge terrorist matters deeply concerning with ‘na-
A war can’t be imagined without the attacks staged by jihadi groups spon- tional interest’. The ‘newsrooms’ too
prospect of peace, rest the chapters of sored by Islamabad. should not be made ‘war-rooms’ and let
history inform well about evil design of If India had drawn a new red line by TRPs be dealt through gentler means.
terror, counter-terror and inconsolable sending fighter planes across the LoC Serving the ‘national interest’ is also
losses. No matter how the collective for the first time after the 1971 war, Paki- serving ‘humanity’, as nothing is like
memory is responding, the due consid- stan too has drawn the red line that In- ‘peace’, it must get a chance now and
eration should be given to unadulter- dia is no United States which can con- always!
ated strategy. duct operations to eliminate terrorists
No doubt on what Imran Khan was inside its territory and get away with it. Atul K Thakur is a New Delhi based
referring to by lobbing the words ‘the “If you can come into our country, columnist, with keen interest in South
weapons that you have and the weap- we can do the same,” in the words of Asian affairs. Rajiv Jayaram is a journalist
ons we have’. Well, they are nuclear Prime Minister Khan. In his speech, and political commentator.
weapons, the psychological weapon- Prime Minister Khan indicated the
ising of which is the ultimate defense death toll inflicted by terrorism in his letters@tehelka.com

Tehelka / 30 april 2019 53 www.Tehelka.com