If India was waiting for a cathartic pause in its recently concluded war with Pakistan, then the latest Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meet should have provided the opportunity to proclaim to the world that terrorism of the sort that Pakistan perpetrated in Pahalgam will not be tolerated. However, the Chinese-led document omitting Rawalpindi’s unabashed vehemence in a Valley that was witnessing peace is unacceptable.
It is interesting that the globe—or a sizeable part of it—did not endorse India’s stand against terror. It showcased that terror decreed by a client state (which Pakistan is of China) is passé, even if it approximates the Islamist terror that has been characterizing China’s Xinjiang. Beijing’s dual stance, even as it seeks to shield Pakistan from its continual attempt to “cut India with a thousand cuts,” has its ill-gotten sanction.
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The Indian Defence Minister’s refusal to sign a prejudiced document needs to be taken in the precise spirit it was offered. It was a correct decision.
Geopolitical shifts occur, as do tectonic turf hits, but the manner in which the political opposition is bulldozing the Modi dispensation is less than fair.
India has just recovered from both a terror attack and a righteous reprisal against Pakistan. If India’s diplomatic placement on the world stage and the dastardly Pakistani-sponsored attack in Pahalgam were not mentioned on the global stage, then it was because of nefarious intentions by India’s enemies, including China and Pakistan. But Indian politicians like Yashwant Sinha seeking to deride a stand and a leader who has stridden like a colossus since 22/4 took place is less than patriotic. India, that should have come together against a recurrently intimidating Pakistan, should be condemned in one voice. Gratefully, that voice emanates from one leader—Modi. His countrymen should chorus him with equal gusto.
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It was heartening for hoarse hearts that India acted deftly against Pakistan and the terror actor that it promotes. Rawalpindi’s menacing actions against India have been proven countless times. It was witnessed in the audacious attack on the Indian parliament and later in 26/11 Mumbai. India had been tolerant on most counts. If it deployed its armed forces by way of “Op Parakram,” it was to message a simplistic Pakistan that India can mean business. After the belligerence that was felt in Pahalgam, Modi-Shah-Rajnath appropriately anointed “Sindoor” on the bruised forehead of India.
The world is in a state of flux, albeit by way of limited warfare in separate theatres. If Sindoor temporarily closed a chapter by anointing the gracious Modi-Shah-Rajnath vermillion on Indian temples, then the conflict continuum which is suddenly visiting Iran’s Natanz, Fordo, and Esfahan by Israel and the United States is bringing the world closer to a war that might combust. Right-thinking people do not want such a conflagration.
If the satellite’s point of view provides a strategic picture, then an ant’s point of view arrays the near-tactical picture. A sand-modeled screenshot necessarily shows that Pakistan wants to “bleed India with a thousand cuts.” If that is axiomatic, then the fact is that Pakistan’s reason for existence is synonymous with India “bleeding.”
If that amounts to testing boundaries, then India must act not only militarily, which it has, but also decisively in diplomatic forums. Testing boundaries are, after all, not just about Rawalpindi and Beijing, but also edges and limits that criss-cross the innards of one’s opposition inside the country.
(Jaideep Saikia is a conflict theorist and best-selling author)