The present indiscriminate shelling by Indian forces along the Line of Control (LoC) goes against all international norms and is a blatant display of human rights violations. How the Indian government can possibly still claim to hold any kind of a moral high ground vis-a-vis Pakistan after shelling a civilian bus and villagers in different areas all along the LoC is absurd. The death count at present is 13, ten out of them are civilians while 3 are military personnel. After the shelling of the civilian bus, Director General Military Operations, Major General Sahir Shamshad Mirza opened a hotline with his Indian counterpart and conveyed to him that Pakistan reserves the right to respond at the place and time of its choosing. Meanwhile, Indian High Deputy Commissioner, J.P. Singh was summoned by the Foreign Office and a protest was lodged over Indian belligerence. All of this suggests that Pakistan-India relations are on a precipice, tenuously hanging there by the threat of mutually assured destruction if full scale war is waged. What is being achieved though this brinkmanship is hard to ascertain, but it is clear that this is sinking Pakistan-India relationship to a dangerously new low while also leading to the deaths of civilians and soldiers alike.
Unfortunately, India under the premiership of Narendra Modi has turned out as a petty country, which has allowed greater space to the jingoistic voices within it. It appears that Modi has chosen to give preference to myopic concerns of satiating his right wing Hindutva inspired constituency rather than see beyond the little political capital that could be made from it and work for the longterm betterment of the region. It bears repetition that peace between Pakistan and India is the only way to attain long term security and prosperity in both countries, and it is puzzling why the recent politics of the two countries displays utter blindness to it. India, especially, has to be held up to a greater level of scrutiny in this regard because it claims to be a country that is on its way to be a regional power. However, Indian actions do not really match its claims as it has indulged in churlish point scoring against Pakistan, and allowed militants to hold the peace process hostage through their terrorist attacks. After all, ratcheting up tensions after a militant attack in the Indian base Uri by prematurely pinning its blame on Pakistan, and then indulging in such bellicosity is hardly the kind of behaviour expected of a country that aspires to be a regional power.
For once, there was a government in Delhi that came to power with the public perception that it would not strike any deal with Pakistan that is inimical to India’s interests, and that perception alone gave Modi great room for diplomatic manoeuvring vis-a-vis Pakistan, something that Modi could have used to engage in meaningful talks for peace. Unfortunately, Pakistan’s offers of talks was only met by Indian intransigence of talks on India’s terms. Moreover, whenever things turned sour, Modi decided to retreat into his shell of displaying hardline Indian belligerence without pausing to consider its effects of pushing Pakistan-India relations to a point from where it would be very difficult to rescue them from. The present tensions are a result of this policy. And while full-scale war may not be something that either side wants, it should be kept in mind that continuation of this state of affairs along the LoC brings Pakistan and India ever closer to it. The current balance is very tenuous and it does not take long for things to get out of hand. Hence, it is hoped that sanity is allowed to dictate decisions rather than emotive appeals of retaliation and counter retaliation. Otherwise, it would only result in more suffering. *