SO MANY women, who were either wives or mothers of soldiers who laid down their lives receiving posthumous award of Ashok Chakra on Republic Day, is a grim reminder of what India is up against vis-a-vis Pakistan.Only a couple of months after its creation in August 1947, Pakistan masterminded the invasion of Jammu and Kashmir. Since then, for the past over 60 years, there have been three wars, any number of acts of terrorism, and Pakistan Intelligence agencies supporting and fomenting internal troubles in India. The ongoing campaign to bleed India through terrorism has gone on for too long and its intensity and daring, as shown by attacks in Mumbai on November 26, 2008, should convince the Indian leadership and the people that this will not end by mere talk and diplomacy . The reason is very simple and basic. The Pakistan establishment and in particular the military and ISI are rightly or wrongly convinced that India is a soft state. That its leaders lack the guts to take tough choices and Indian society has become highly self-centered, money minded and corrupt. They can therefore take liberties with India at will.
What the Indian leadership has to examine and take a long-term strategic view is how long can the country accept the hostile actions and violence from Pakistan and to what extent. India cannot go on from one crisis to another as a result of acts of terrorism, violence and threat to its national security and life, forever. India has to plan bold and strategic steps to stop this menace. Actions like striking at bases of terrorists will not bring any worthwhile results. India cannot afford to keep approaching other nations to caution Pakistan and act in a weak manner to each violent incident. The whole world is watching how weak India is in safeguarding its interests.
The Indian political leadership, bureaucracy and the Foreign Service lack bold strategic vision. The Defence Forces are the only organisation, which are trained and remain focused and updated on security and strategic matters. But sadly, they are kept out of the loop in making national policies. India has never had a General/Admiral/Air Marshal as National Security Adviser. India’s top military brass must be the most worthless in the world even in matters of national security, so this would indicate! Militarily, Pakistan has always somehow managed to receive military aid and latest weapons systems. The nuclear arsenal has emboldened its military leadership in raising the threshold for India. Indian military though outnumbers Pakistan, is relatively lowly equipped, mostly due to redtape and bureaucratic ambivalence in getting new weapons and equipment. Defence manpower is poorly paid and does not attract the right material.
However, now the strategic interests of USA and other Western nations are converging with India, due to Pakistan being accepted as an epicentre of terrorism and to checkmate China, which is having tremendous growth as an economic and military power. India needs to exploit this opportunity to tackle Pakistan on a long-term basis. However, there are no free lunches, as the saying goes. India will have to tilt towards USA and get closer to Western powers strategically. Also, India will have to modernise its Defence Forces on a fast-track basis.
India has some of the following strategic options:
The above measures are inevitable as Pakistan is unlikely to mend ways otherwise. India needs to set these strategic and bold goals and work towards achieving these in concert with friendly nations, as a long-term measure.
Lt Gen Harbhajan Singh (Retd)
Former Signal Officer in Chief
The writer is a security analyst
Courtesy Hindustan Times, Chandigarh Edition
Defence Talk: Engaging Pakistan
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