There is a proverb: “A lie has no legs,” which means that a lie and falsehood have no foundation or support to stand on and are bound to be exposed or disproved. There is no way one can get away with it. The proverb stands reinforced and corroborated by the exposure of Indian lies during the recent conflict with Pakistan regarding the losses sustained by her and the ultimate outcome.
As soon as India committed the indiscretion of attacking Pakistan on the night between the 6th and 7th of June, the Indian government and media went berserk, claiming that India had destroyed several Pakistani targets and cities without ever providing credible evidence in support of their claims. The international media, from the beginning, expressed doubts about the Indian narrative. Pakistan claimed to have downed five Indian planes, including three much-hyped Rafale planes. But India continued to reject the reality and maintained that it had the upper hand in the conflict. This did not last long, as the details that emerged after the ceasefire amply established Pakistani ascendancy in the military confrontation.
Now, while Narendra Modi, like a frustrated man, continues with his bellicose blustering against Pakistan and hints at the possibility of yet another assault during election rallies, a senior leader of the BJP, Subramanian Swamy, speaking on a podcast, admitted, “Pakistan shot down five of our aircraft using Chinese fighter jets. Their performance was commendable, whereas our French Rafale jets were underwhelming.” He expressed strong criticism of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Pahalgam attack, denouncing the failure to apprehend the perpetrators as a grave crime and lamenting, “We should have avenged it, but we failed to do so.”
The clash between the two nuclear states, with a history of three wars and unabated hostility, is a very dreadful prospect.
Swamy, who served in the Rajya Sabha from 2016 to 2022, also leveled serious allegations regarding the controversial Rafale deal, claiming there was widespread corruption in the procurement process. However, he claimed that it would never be investigated as long as Modi was Prime Minister because he would not allow it.
There could not have been a stronger repudiation of the claims and rhetoric of the Indian Prime Minister and an exposition of the lies that he and the Indian media have been relying on to hoodwink the world than what Swamy has said. It is not only Swamy but many other saner voices within the Indian parliament and segments of Indian society that have questioned the credibility of the Pahalgam incident and the war hysteria built against Pakistan, besides condemning the communal policies of the BJP regime. The BJP government has also received another jolt from the confession of Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan in an interview with Bloomberg in Singapore that India lost a number of fighter jets during the recent military confrontation with Pakistan.
Although Pakistan clearly emerged triumphant in thwarting Indian aggression, demonstrating a proven capability to respond effectively in conventional warfare, its leadership has been acting with great responsibility, reiterating their commitment to peace and regional security. The humility expressed by them is commendable indeed.
While Pakistan and India are in the process of withdrawing their troops along their borders to pre-conflict positions, it is feared that the conflict has enhanced the risk of escalation in the future. General Sahir Shamshad, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, while speaking to Reuters, alluded to this possibility in these words: “Both sides used fighter jets, missiles, drones, and artillery in four days of clashes, their worst fighting in decades. While there was no move towards nuclear weapons during this conflict, it was a dangerous situation. Nothing happened this time, but you cannot rule out any strategic miscalculation at any time because when the crisis is on, the responses are different. The risk of escalation in the future has increased since the fighting this time was not limited to IIOJ&K. The conflict lowers the threshold between two countries that are contiguous nuclear powers. In the future, it will not be restricted to the disputed territory. It will come down to the whole of India and Pakistan.”
The clash between the two nuclear states, with a history of three wars and unabated hostility, is a very dreadful prospect. That is why the global community is extremely concerned about it. Pakistani leaders, both civilian and military, understand the cataclysmic consequences of any such eventuality. Pakistan has acted as a responsible nuclear state during the crisis. Although its decision to acquire nuclear capability was India-specific, its leaders have always considered it a deterrent against Indian designs and a guarantor of peace, instead of ever considering the possibility of using them against India. That is why they are persistent in stressing the need for the resolution of the contentious issues between the two countries through peaceful means.
The writer is a former diplomat and freelance columnist.