It is nobody’s case to start a war with Pakistan and launch any kind of strikes against that country when this has all the portents of escalating into a larger conflagration. Yet India cannot baulk away from this possibility and let itself be bled indefinitely. In the event of a larger conflagration, India must be in a position to inflict crippling damage on Pakistan in the shortest possible timeframe, before world powers and the UN intervene to bring an end to the hostilities. Given the prevalent state of the IAF and the morale of the military, this may not be possible.
India’s options are extremely limited. The US and Britain cannot put pressure on Pakistan beyond a point to end terrorism. Rushing to the UN Security Council just to seek a declaration on the Jamaat-ud Dawa as a terrorist outfit is an exercise in futility. The Lashkar-e-Taiyaba (LeT), too, is an outlawed terrorist outfit in Pakistan, but it is still operating. Given the long record of terrorist acts against India by groups aided and abetted by Pakistan (the ISI, the army and the government included), we should have at least demanded that Pakistan must be declared a terrorist state. Though the world knows that Pakistan is the fount of worldwide terrorism, it was not likely to be declared a terrorist state due to other compulsions. But India would have made a strong point and opened an avenue for another action.
That action is to put Pakistan on notice for the annulment of treaties, and the first of these will be the Indus Water Treaty. The World Bank could have been informed in this regard.
India should give Pakistan six months to stop terrorist attacks and dismantle the terrorism-related infrastructure in that country, failing which we will annul the Indus Water Treaty. Simultaneously, start a survey of the projects to divert the waters of the Chenab. This simple move can make Pakistan realise that some of its canals will go dry. A threat to convert dams on the rivers Chenab and Jehlum from the “run of the river” to a “storage reservoirs” should be conveyed to Pakistan. This should be done in a manner to appear that India means business.
Lt Gen Harwant singh (Retd)
Extract:
There’s a way to tame Pakistan. Rushing to the UN will not do
Related:
LeT’s admission. Can Pakistan still deny its involvement?
Pressure enough?
Singh wants international pressure to persuade Islamabad to dismantle what it says are terrorist training camps on Pakistani territory and extradite 40 suspects.
"The terrorist attack in Mumbai in November last year was carried out by a Pakistan-based outfit, the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
"There is enough evidence to show that, given the sophistication and military precision of the attack, it must have had the support of some official agencies in Pakistan," Singh added.
India has said it suspects that the Pakistan military spy agency, ISI, gave some support to the attack....Reuters
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