Indian aggression

India’s aggressive actions against Pakistan become ever more transparent with every passing day. First, there was the absurdity of India trying to pass off its unprovoked firing across the Line of Control as a ‘targeted operation’. Then it killed seven Pakistan soldiers a few days ago in more LoC firing. Now the Indian navy is getting in on the act too.      On Friday, an Indian submarine tried to enter Pakistani waters undetected but was pushed back before it could do so. This is another clearly provocative act by India. Furthermore, on Saturday, ISPR confirmed that two girls were killed in more indiscriminate firing across the border.       Narendra Modi has talked incessantly about being more confrontational with Pakistan than his Congress predecessors. But outright war, as much as Modi may desire it, is not an option because we retain the nuclear deterrent. He then takes these aggressive actions as a way of appeasing a public that he has himself riled up into a state of war. Even if we know that Modi will not actually go to war, his posturing carries a lot of risk. Pakistan has no option but to respond to Indian hostility – and there is always a danger of escalation. Modi seems not to care about that but the rest of the world should be alarmed.

An additional reason for India’s belligerence is that it helps draw attention away from its ongoing brutalities in Kashmir. The conflict then becomes one between India and Pakistan and the focus is no longer on India’s illegal occupation. This too is another reason for the international community to be involved since it sets the precedence that a ‘powerful’ country can get away with flouting international law. The only lasting solution would be for the UN to finally demand that its own resolutions on Kashmir be implemented and a referendum held there. Until then, Modi is going to find every distraction possible to avert the world’s gaze from its occupation. That may take the form of military posturing like the Indian navy action or it may involve the campaign of isolating Pakistan internationally as a terrorist state. It could also be Modi’s attempt to draw an equivalence between Indian-occupied Kashmir and places like Azad Kashmir, Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan. Pakistan has shown it is capable of thwarting India military aggression but has been less successful in getting the international community to take the side of the oppressed people of Kashmir. Until it can do that, Modi will continue his campaign of provocation.