Only yesterday, the Union Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh, talked of improved conditions on the Indo-Pak border and the lessening instances of militant attacks. West Asia nudges India and Pakistan to smoke the peace pipe, as unpublished talks are on with the recalcitrant neighbour. For a section of the Pakistan army and politicians,’ peace with India is anathema. A peace will rob them of huge personal benefits and electoral gains. The Kashmiri Gupkar alliance giving an overall positive rating of their meeting with the PM, has unruffled the feathers of Pakistani hawks. The current peace could have been a reason for the Pak drone attacks on Jammu Air Force Station.
The attack cannot be dismissed as a lone wolf act and must be taken in all seriousness. The style of warfare has changed, bioweapons and drones leading any conventional ones. An aircraft carrier is a sitting duck unless accompanied by a flotilla of warships. The same is the fate of air force stations and hangars which are vulnerable to destruction, as seen in the Arab Israeli war. The drones are increasingly becoming lethal with phenomenal firepower and accuracy. The drones missed the chopper hangar by a few meters.
India must take down the culprits and their camps without wasting time on long bureaucratic meetings. Fear is the key to deterrence, a reason that we could get Pakistan to release the Indian Pilot Abhinandan Vardhaman, who flew into Pak held territories to respond to the Pakistani attacks on Pulwama.
There is churning in Pakistan, smarting under the retention in the FATF (the global money laundering and terror funding watchdog) grey list for its terror funding and letting a few key terror suspects still free.
Our overtures seem to have no meaning for the terror mongering Pakistan, which will not rest until their dreams of a full annexation of Kashmir is not fulfilled. For once, India must end the 74-year-old malignant tumour with finality. Winco Abhi must be itching to go into Pakistan. He deserves a chance!
Jai Hind
Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix
