India should seriously consider 'limited war' with Pakistan: BJP leader

Former minister calls for a 'permanent solution' to ceasefire violations along LoC; terms dialogue process redundant

A leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and former Indian minister for occupied Kashmir has said that the Modi government should seriously consider a limited war with Pakistan to teach the Muslim country a lesson, reported The Economic Times.

"Time has come to make the cost of military engagement of any kind with India unaffordable for Pakistan and for that a limited war with Pakistan, which several military strategists have recommended, should be seriously considered and that too at the earliest," Chaudhry Lal Singh was quoted as saying by the Indian publication.

The outburst came as Indian forces continued to heighten tensions on the border with Pakistan by engaging in unprovoked ceasefire violations which have claimed the lives of many innocent civilians.



According to the former minister, the local stakeholders in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) who were pleading for dialogue in the conflict-ridden valley were blinded by political ambition, and should instead seek tough action against Pakistan.

"They [political parties] have become vociferous advocates of Pakistan. They have doubled their efforts to prevent the central government from taking an aggressive stance against Pakistan," said Singh.

He added that the proposal of the state government for peace was not a permanent solution but continuity of the status-quo.



"Killings will go on and we would be doing nothing but offering condolences and paying homage," he added.

The BJP leader was of the opinion that things would not go on for this too long, and that people in India were losing patience.

Singh, who resigned following accusations that he supported Hindu perpetrators behind the Kathua rape and murder case in IoK, said "I do not understand why leaders of regional parties have a special place for Pakistan in their hearts and minds?"



He said they were not worried about issues concerning their constituencies and their focus was on how the central government has to be stopped from going all out against Pakistan.

"Thousands of border dwellers are worried about their future and are demanding 'a permanent solution' to the repeated violations of ceasefire on the international border," he said.

New Delhi should stop listening to Kashmir-based politicians, the senior BJP leader insisted.

This article originally appeared in The Economic Times