India-PakNeighbours by geography, foes by choice

The Unrest , Battle of flags:

Two state of South Asia share:

Historic Geographic Cultural Economic link But the relationship has been filled

by- Hatred, frost Hostility & Doubt

Geographically:

Enumeration of land boundaries we share:

1. Radcliffe line2. Line of Control (LOC)3. International Border(IB)4. Wagah border

Radcliffe Line:

One of the most complex borders in the world

From the Arabian sea, Naval Border follows course of Manora island of Pakistan to the course of Mumbai harbour in south eastwards

Line of control (LOC):

Line which separates' Jammu & Kashmir and Azad Kashmir of Pakistan (which is administered from Muzaffarabad)

Named LOC following Simla Agreement ,3 July 1972

Not a legally recognized international Border

Wagah Border:

Lies on Grand Trunk road, between Amritsar in India & Lahore in Pakistan

Only Road border present

Bone Of Contention:

Kashmir valley Rann of Kutch Water Crisis Nuclear deterrence Trade and bus services Trade & Commerce Cumbersome Visa issues

Enumeration of Events:

Kashmir & The house of Dogras In 1947,when Kashmir was attacked,

kingdom’s Maharaja signed “Instrument Of Accession” which gave India jurisdiction over the state with respect to subjects of defence, External Affairs & communications.

Kashmir was included as Part B state in First Schedule of constitution of India as it promulgated in 1950

Wars for Peace : In 1965: Ceasefire Agreement signed on 23 sep

ended hostilities, Tashkent agreement was signed between India and pak

In 1971: for the liberation of East Pak ( now

Bangladesh), ended with the Famous Simla Agreement of 1972 between pak president Zulfikar ali Bhutto and Indian Prime minister Indira Gandhi

India’s complete Dominance

On December 16, India captured around 5500 sq miles of Pakistan territory along with 93000(approx) soldiers as hostages comprising of around 79,676 uniform personals & rest civilians.

Indian Navy proved its superiority by success of Operation Trident

Pakistan’s Proxy War:

After repeated military defeats and unsuccessful intrusions into valley, Pakistan launched an intrusion into kargil in June 1999 taking undue advantage of India's soft policies like announcement of Lahore declaration and famous bus ride of Feb 1999 after which Pakistan commenced its dirty politics with series of planned terror attacks into the Indian territory

Terror as a State policy:

Pakistan’s whole-hearted support for terror outfits like Lashkar-e-toiba & Jaish-e-Mohammad have always proved to be thorn in India’s eye. Series of terror attacks in last decade or so bought both nations to loggerheads and bilateral relations became frosty . Some noticeable and audacious attacks across the border are enumerated below as:-

String of planned attacks :

Primarily, 1993 Mumbai blast 2001, Parliament attacks 2002, Akshardham temple attack 2007, samjhauta express attack 2008, Mumbai attack Attacks at Uri & Pathankot’s airbase in

recent past proving Pakistan establishment’s malice foreign policies

Sponsors of Terrorism:

Pak based terror outfits like Lashkar-e-toiba ( perpetrator of Mumbai 26/11), Jaish-e-Mohammad (Parliament attacks and Pathankot‘s) have openly declared holy war against India.

Terrorist in these terror outfits are trained ,paid and armed by Pakistan especially by its notorious spy agency ISI

Pakistan: a criminal enterprise??

There has been plethora of epithets ,all apt , to describe Pak as “ world's most dangerous country”, “land of Islamic bomb"," Rogue state” & what not? But why??

1. Political instability2. Trusted network of Radical islamists3. Abundance of angry, young & anti-west

recruits4. Access to state-of-art Electronic technology5. Growing Nuclear programme

In pak ,it is the army & ISI that calls the shots. Together they are called as establishment

Despite evidence of LeT-JeM-ISI complicity to pak, latter have been in complete state of denial & even denied Hafiz saeed, Maulana masood Azhar as terrorist

What dominates Bilateral Relationship is problem of fear and Insecurity as it is of Positioning

U.S angle:

After 26/11 Americans began to make right kind of noises, forcing Islamabad to take stern action against terror.

While U.S has its own strategic compulsions, India can’t treat Pak with kid’s gloves. India should take big superpowers into confidence ,apprising them of critical need to curb Pak’s nefarious activities and its persistent perfidy.

Blow hot,Blow cold:

Previous’s governments soft policies against Pak’s proxy war ,calling them the “victim of terrorism” is hardly consistent & mature

Having strong anti-terror laws only on papers will not work, GOI will have to come with more pragmatic policy to end the menace emanating from across the border

What can be done??

While hawks in administration advocate hard line approach, India can’t afford to go to war with nuclear state like Pak that is armed to teeth. Other alternatives can be :

1. Full Suspension of trade 2. Hold in abeyance the bus & train links3. Closing of Diplomatic missions Whatever we decide , what’s important

is atleast to take one CONCRETE STEP

Two major steps:

Launching of Surgical strike – On sep 29 , India undertook a surgical strike across border involving in a tit-for-tat fight destroying large number of terror camps

Isolation of Pak at International stage (postponing of SAARC summit in Islamabad)

World should unite:

An odd Surgical strike is good but it has its limitations as it can’t deter terror groups completely until the fight begins at world’s stage and superpowers like U.S & china contribute in isolating Pak.

Pragmatism coupled with pursuit of national interest should guide our Policy toward Pakistan.