Modi’s bravado ups the ante in LoC flare-up
Pakistani military leaders say they have been taken aback by the level of aggression of Indian forces over last week
NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD:
However, military officers in both countries and officials in New Delhi say the violence that has killed nearly 20 civilians escalated because of a more assertive Indian posture under the new government of nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The message we have been given from the prime minister’s office is very clear and precise,” said a senior Indian Home Ministry official. “The prime minister’s office has instructed us to ensure that Pakistan suffers deep and heavy losses.”
In his first extensive comments on the violence, Modi told a political rally on Thursday - when 1,000 Indian mortars rained across into Pakistan - that “it is the enemy that is screaming”. “The enemy has realised that times have changed and their old habits will not be tolerated,” he said.
The exchange of mortar and gunfire across a populated border area of Jammu, in the lowlands of Kashmir, has been India’s most serious brush with Pakistan in a decade. Almost 20,000 Indian civilians have fled their homes to escape the fighting, taking refuge in schools and relief camps.
Modi’s robust approach towards Pakistan, supporters say, is aimed at emphasising India’s ‘superior strength’ and making ‘Pakistan’s military think twice before firing across the border’. It is a strategy he also used to stand up to India’s larger neighbour, China, during a border standoff between several hundred Indian and Chinese troops on the Tibetan plateau that coincided with President Xi Jinping’s visit to New Delhi last month.
But the new stance risks more violence in the Himalayan region of Kashmir, already one of the world’s most volatile fault lines, and has eroded the ceasefire agreement that has largely held between India and Pakistan since 2003.
Since Modi’s election victory in May, military commanders have been encouraged to step up border patrols and retaliate with more force if they come under attack. New Delhi has insisted there can be no talks with Pakistan unless “it ends shootings and pushing militants” into Indian-administered Kashmir.
“This is what we feared would happen if Modi came to power,” said Ikram Sehgal, a former Pakistani military officer and chairman of one of the country’s largest security companies. “This could easily escalate into something that won’t be good for Pakistan or India.”
India may be gambling that Pakistan can ill afford to inflame hostilities in Kashmir while its army is engaged in a full-blown offensive against militants in North Waziristan Agency. But the stakes are also high for India. An editorial in the Indian Express on Friday called for cooler heads, saying further escalation would damage India’s reputation as a responsible nation and attractive investment destination, and could rekindle a separatist insurgency on its side of Kashmir.
Officials say India’s new policy is being orchestrated by Ajit Doval, the country’s national security adviser, a former intelligence official renowned for his role in dangerous counter-insurgency missions. In August, after days of cross-LoC firing between India and Pakistan, Doval attended a meeting at the Home Ministry along with the head of the paramilitary Border Security Force (BSF) and a decision was taken to give a free hand to the ground commanders in Jammu, a top security official in the region told Reuters. Until then, the BSF, which guards the Jammu section of the border with Pakistan, had complained that instructions on how to respond to provocations were unclear.
A spokesman for India’s defence ministry did not respond to requests for comments.
Pakistani military leaders say they have been taken aback by the level of aggression of Indian forces over the last week. “India is deliberately putting pressure on Pakistani security forces by opening this new front,” said a senior Pakistani military official posted on the border.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 13th, 2014.
However, military officers in both countries and officials in New Delhi say the violence that has killed nearly 20 civilians escalated because of a more assertive Indian posture under the new government of nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The message we have been given from the prime minister’s office is very clear and precise,” said a senior Indian Home Ministry official. “The prime minister’s office has instructed us to ensure that Pakistan suffers deep and heavy losses.”
In his first extensive comments on the violence, Modi told a political rally on Thursday - when 1,000 Indian mortars rained across into Pakistan - that “it is the enemy that is screaming”. “The enemy has realised that times have changed and their old habits will not be tolerated,” he said.
The exchange of mortar and gunfire across a populated border area of Jammu, in the lowlands of Kashmir, has been India’s most serious brush with Pakistan in a decade. Almost 20,000 Indian civilians have fled their homes to escape the fighting, taking refuge in schools and relief camps.
Modi’s robust approach towards Pakistan, supporters say, is aimed at emphasising India’s ‘superior strength’ and making ‘Pakistan’s military think twice before firing across the border’. It is a strategy he also used to stand up to India’s larger neighbour, China, during a border standoff between several hundred Indian and Chinese troops on the Tibetan plateau that coincided with President Xi Jinping’s visit to New Delhi last month.
But the new stance risks more violence in the Himalayan region of Kashmir, already one of the world’s most volatile fault lines, and has eroded the ceasefire agreement that has largely held between India and Pakistan since 2003.
Since Modi’s election victory in May, military commanders have been encouraged to step up border patrols and retaliate with more force if they come under attack. New Delhi has insisted there can be no talks with Pakistan unless “it ends shootings and pushing militants” into Indian-administered Kashmir.
“This is what we feared would happen if Modi came to power,” said Ikram Sehgal, a former Pakistani military officer and chairman of one of the country’s largest security companies. “This could easily escalate into something that won’t be good for Pakistan or India.”
India may be gambling that Pakistan can ill afford to inflame hostilities in Kashmir while its army is engaged in a full-blown offensive against militants in North Waziristan Agency. But the stakes are also high for India. An editorial in the Indian Express on Friday called for cooler heads, saying further escalation would damage India’s reputation as a responsible nation and attractive investment destination, and could rekindle a separatist insurgency on its side of Kashmir.
Officials say India’s new policy is being orchestrated by Ajit Doval, the country’s national security adviser, a former intelligence official renowned for his role in dangerous counter-insurgency missions. In August, after days of cross-LoC firing between India and Pakistan, Doval attended a meeting at the Home Ministry along with the head of the paramilitary Border Security Force (BSF) and a decision was taken to give a free hand to the ground commanders in Jammu, a top security official in the region told Reuters. Until then, the BSF, which guards the Jammu section of the border with Pakistan, had complained that instructions on how to respond to provocations were unclear.
A spokesman for India’s defence ministry did not respond to requests for comments.
Pakistani military leaders say they have been taken aback by the level of aggression of Indian forces over the last week. “India is deliberately putting pressure on Pakistani security forces by opening this new front,” said a senior Pakistani military official posted on the border.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 13th, 2014.