Misadventure Undone

Following the bold and brave Operation Sindoor conducted by the Indian armed forces, Pakistan, perhaps to cater to domestic impulses and compensate for the perceived humiliation, made a great folly on May 7 night. Extending upon heavy cross border mortar shelling, Pak military attempted to target Indian military establishments. Its assault was directed at locations including Awantipura, Adampur, Amritsar, Bhatinda, Chandigarh, Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Nal, Phalodi, Uttarlai, and Bhuj. Thankfully, these attacks were successfully intercepted by India's Integrated Counter UAS Grid and robust Air Defence systems. Pakistan has clearly pulled the trigger for escalation and war. Under Operation Sindoor, India, in line with its legacy of peace, had maintained strict discipline so as not to hit Pakistan’s military targets, because its rightful fight is against terror and terrorists. Pakistan, living up to its notoriety, bypassed such protocols of peace and military discipline by attacking Indian military establishments.

In response to Pakistan’s misadventures, India was well within its right to retaliate, and it did so to keep its people safe and national pride intact. With the same intensity as Pakistan, India targeted Pakistani Air Defence Radars and systems at several locations. Reports indicate that an Air Defence system in Lahore has been dismantled. Pakistan must have got a clear idea of what the peaceful-looking India is capable of. It will be in its best interest to exercise restraint instead of acting desperately under domestic pressure. Respecting the protocols of ceasefire and international rules is not merely a question of dogmatic principle for Pakistan. It is, as Pakistan must have realised by now, also a pragmatic imperative to shield its dwindling political-economic situation from unnecessary conflicts. The Pakistani establishment must also dispel such thoughts that embolden it in the name of support from China. The geopolitics of South Asia is not as simple as it seems, and the India Pakistan is facing today is not from some decades ago. Any miscalculation on the part of Pakistan could prove suicidal for its own prestige and existence.

While India has kept its integrity intact by shielding its defence systems, Pakistan has seemingly lost one. What is even more consequential for Pakistan is that it has now lost the diplomatic shield by acting as a prime aggressor, since it was the first to attack India’s defence systems. India is collecting evidence of Pakistani attack. Once it gathers that, Pakistan will have little scope for face-saving in the diplomatic domain. Pak military has already killed more than a dozen Indian civilians in cross-border shelling. It is evident that with its reckless and mindless action, it is pushing itself into further abyss by provoking a neighbour with whom it can’t afford to compete. Be it Operation Sindoor or retaliation against Pakistan’s May 7 attack, India’s response has been measured and rational.

What is even more important is that in this time of potential crisis, India, unlike Pakistan, stands united across the political spectrum and religious lines. Shashi Tharoor, a member of Indian government’s prime opposition party, the INC, very aptly put it, “the messaging of the press conference (following Operation Sindoor) in which the foreign secretary, a Kashmiri Pandit, was flanked on both sides by women officers, one of whom was a Muslim, demonstrates a narrative against the one of Hindu-Muslim hostility being spread by the Pakistanis like silly general Munir. It sends a very good message." The Indian Prime Minister has chaired a high-level review meeting on national security. Also, the inter-ministerial coordination in the Indian government provides a surety of robust defence in case of any mindless escalation by Pakistan or its friends. As India stands alert and firm on its commitment of non-escalation, Pakistan should respect its neighbour’s composure, introspect on its own follies, and refrain from committing suicidal misadventures. That would be in its greater interest, and also that of the region.