Diversionary tactics

India continues to try and divert blame from its own security failures and abuses in Kashmir, this time through a “charge sheet” relating to the 2019 Pulwama attack. Pakistan has rejected the claims made by India's National Investigation Agency, noting that the charges were made up to further the ruling BJP’s anti-Pakistan agenda and be useful for domestic political propaganda. That India made such claims, however, is not at all surprising. Even before the dust had settled, India has been trying to pin the attack on Pakistan. On the other hand, Islamabad flatly denied any involvement, and most independent analysts agreed, noting that Pakistan had nothing to gain from the attack. The ensuing tensions caused by India's attempts to escalate the standoff helped reinforce this position.

Meanwhile, through a combination of lies and compliance with the media, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hoped to convince voters to focus on his tough-guy rhetoric and look past his government's corruption and ineptitude to vote him back into power. The trick worked, and the sabre-rattling got the BJP an even larger parliamentary majority than it already had. Unfortunately, winning another election did not suddenly make Modi incompetent. India's economy is in the gutter, and it is now the world leader in daily Covid-19 cases and deaths. Indeed, Modi appears to be emulating US President Donald Trump by destroying his economy, mismanaging his pandemic response, and then relying on falsehoods and misdirection to distract his supporters.

The strategy has been mostly successful for both men. The unfortunate fallout of this has been the impact on citizens of the world. Indeed, India's military hostility with Pakistan and China has been of concern to the entire world. Even when Pakistan offered to help India investigate the Pulwama attack last year, the latter responded with airstrikes. Amazingly, even the failure of the airstrikes, which included the downing of two Indian jets and a pilot's capture, was painted as a success. With state elections around the corner and the BJP having no concrete achievements to show, we worry that India may well use the NIA findings to justify an election-friendly attack on Pakistan.