The Indo-Pak video war

MOST of Tuesday belonged to the Indian corner after the Indian Army displayed footage of “punitive fire assaults” across the border. A stung Pakistani army then released a matching clip that also showed crudely built shelters disintegrating under heavy weapons firing. The video wars have become a new addition to the Indo-Pak assertions of surgical strikes and verbal cross-firing in TV studios. The pertinent question is: why are infiltrations continuing after 27 years of spending so much on border fencing and multiple security grids that have drawn in lakhs of security personnel? There are excuses: the fence gets damaged during snowfall; cross-border streams cannot be fenced and militants keep ferreting for new routes. Meaning, there can be no permanent plugging.

The public ownership of Army operations resolves the hyper-nationalist government’s PR problem. New Delhi can no longer be accused of impotence, an epithet the BJP had tarred the incumbents with when it was in opposition. But it will soon face another dilemma. As infiltration continues (last year was the highest in 15 years), the Modi government’s constituency will itch for a “once-and-for-all” solution. What we fail to realise is that the era of short, decisive wars has ended. The mighty US imbibed that lesson in Afghanistan and Iraq. Russia is energetically arranging roundtable meetings having realised that Syria will be a quagmire.

If India is self-righteous, pretending that the Kashmir problem is all about unruly stone-pelters and some gun-toting militants high on foreign backing and money, Pakistan is disingenuous. It has more than Kashmir on its plate. Islamabad is clearly concerned over India’s economic and political rise. The membership of the NSG is a case in point. Barring China, no one talks of admitting Pakistan to the NSG whereas India’s entry will open up business opportunities for several developed nations. This government cannot be expected to change horses in midstream by letting up on belligerence. But it should be wise enough to appreciate that any escalation in military action will come at the cost of its economic growth ambitions. That also happens to be Pakistan’s aim.