Why India must temper its rhetoric on Pakistan
The lessons of past wars and alarms should teach us that Pakistan is not easy to deal with.
Updated At : 07:02 AM Oct 07, 2025 IST
Mindful: India cannot ignore Pakistan's 6,60,000-strong military or its nuclear weapons. Sandeep Joshi
IN a 1957 speech, Mao Zedong made a pithy but insightful observation: "Strategically we should despise all our enemies, but tactically we should take them all seriously." This is a thought that comes to mind when we hear the Army Chief, Gen Upendra Dwivedi, declare that if Pakistan continues with state-sponsored terrorism, the next time around India "won't show the restraint we exhibited during Operation Sindoor 1.0. This time we will take a step forward and act in a manner that will make Pakistan think whether it wants to remain on the world map or not."
