The ‘Pakistan Debate’ in India in
2015 in terms of Indian policy formulations on Pakistan stands rekindled more
intensely after Pakistan called off its participation in the India-Pakistan
NSA’s talks on discussion of terrorism, a decision arrived at in the meeting of
PM Modi and PM Nawaz Sharif on the side-lines of the SCO Summit at the Russian
city of Ufa.
Before touching the ‘Pakistan
Debate’ in India let us first address the fiasco that emerged last week in the
follow-up of the UFA Meet decisions to discuss terrorism. The Ufa Meet of the
Indian PM Modi and Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif is symptomatic and exemplifies all
that is wrong for decades in India’s policy approaches and formulations of
Pakistan policy.
India was wrong in agreeing to any
meeting with the Pakistan Prime Minister on the side-lines of the SCO Summit in
Russia. Surely, the Indian policy establishment would have been aware that with
Russia and China dominating the SCO, and with China as the strategic patron of
Pakistan, and with Russia now attempting to emerge as the second and joint
patron of Pakistan, the atmospherics attending a meet of India-Pak Prime
Ministers in a Russian city on sensitive issues was all wrong. The atmospherics
were decidedly in favour of Pakistan.
To me personally, the Ufa Meet
somehow, seems to recall the shades of the Tashkent Meet where the late Indian
Prime Minister Shastri under severe Russian pressure was compelled to sell-out
the gains India made in the 1965 War with Pakistan. At Ufa also, India was not
under any domestic pressures to accommodate Pakistan for any resumption of
talks with Pakistan.
On the contrary, like at Tashkent,
India virtually stepped down the ladder of the tremendous tactical gains that
the Indian Army and the BSF had made on the LOC and the IB segment of Jammu and
Kashmir with their disproportionate responses to Pakistani border firings and
incidents. That Indian strategy had begun paying off with effect. Then why the
climb-down by India, and that too at a Summit Meet dominated by Russia and China?
In India, the ‘Pakistan Debate’ has
been on-going for quite some time as to how best to deal with Pakistan, a
nation whose own intellectuals and elites describe it as a “Garrison State” and
where democracy stands always trampled under the jack-boots of Pakistan Army
generals.
India’s liberalist glitterati
increasingly being labelled in India as “bleeding hearts for Pakistan” strongly
advocate peace with Pakistan, persistence in Track II talks and behind the
scenes negotiations by Special Envoys. Most of such people are linked with
external NGOs funding sojourns for these armchair strategists in Dubai,
Istanbul or Bangkok. Track II processes have been on ever since 1991 commencing
with Neemrana without any worthwhile gains.
The striking reason for their
failures is that such processes ignore the ground realities that prevail in a
Garrison State. Never in history have Garrison States submitted themselves to
conflict resolution or peace processes. Garrison States thrive on confrontation
and boxing much above their weight. In case of Pakistan Army with China as its
most ardent strategic patron, the Pakistan Army has acquired the same traits
that any India-Pakistan solution of their disputes has to be with ‘Pakistani
Characteristics’. Would India as an aspiring ‘Global Player’ afford such a
submission to Pakistan Army dictates?
The opposing Indian school of
thought in the ‘Pakistan Debate’ is that India’s policy formulations on
Pakistan should be strongly anchored to ‘realpolitik’ considerations
arising from India’s power attributes, its natural predominance as the regional
power in the Indian Subcontinent and its growing acceptance as the nett
provider of security in the region.
In this approach to Pakistan, no one
is advocating any war jingoism with Pakistan. What is being stressed is that
Pakistani provocations on the borders or Mumbai 26/11like terrorism incidents
should be dealt by India forcefully and with disproportionate response.
Indian political leaders must equip
themselves with the WILL TO USE FORCE where due in defence of India’s national
security. In the same vein, India in 2015 with the political and strategic
standing that is at its elbow should embolden its political leaders to firmly
indicate to the United States, China and Russia that India accords them no role
in interfering or interceding on behalf of Pakistan. If these major powers wish
peace to prevail in the Indian Subcontinent then they should pressurise the
Pakistan Army to desist from its military adventurism against India through its
notorious intelligence agency the ISI, or its Jihadi affiliates terrorist
organisations, or the likes of the Hurriyet operating in the Kashmir Valley
confines.
Concluding, India-at-large expects
its Government in 2015 to project and reflect the above manifestations
befitting India’s ascendancy on the global player ladder. India must totally
shun its ‘Pakistan Appeasement’ policies and neutralise Pakistan Army’s
strategy of striking equivalence with India, both political and military.
- See more at: http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/node/1844#sthash.X2tcd1A0.dpuf
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