Daily Times

On February 14, 2019, a deadly attack happened in Pulwama district, in Indian occupied Kashmir, where 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CPRF) personnel were killed, which grabbed the attention of national and international media. This attack took place when a car rammed a bus carrying CRPF soldiers. A militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed the responsibility of the attack. Adil Ahmad a member of JeM, a local Kashmiri, was identified as the attacker.

Pulwama incident raised tensions between the historical rivals India and Pakistan, which have fought two major wars, limited conflicts, and Pakistan has even faced cross border shelling by India along the Line of Control. Historical enmity between two states has always casted a dark shadow on the regional environment in view of peace, security and economic cooperation. Soon after Pulwama incident, India accused Pakistan for being involved in the attack, which was denied by Pakistani officials.

Pakistan has responded rationally to such allegations, offering full cooperation in any investigation in Pulwama attack. Pakistan further said that if evidence is found against anyone from Pakistan, the government will take all necessary actions. Pakistan also warned that it will retaliate if New Delhi takes military action. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said India should ‘stop blaming Pakistan without any evidence’ and urged Indian authorities to share any ‘actionable intelligence’.These statements from Pakistan clearly show that Pakistan is a responsible and peace loving state, who wants to resolve issues through dialogue rather than on the battlefield.

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said India should ‘stop blaming Pakistan without any evidence’ and urged Indian authorities to share any ‘actionable intelligence’. This statement clearly shows that Pakistan is a responsible and peace loving state that wants to resolve issues on table rather than on the battlefield

However, India not only has accused Pakistan but also has moved to impose trade restrictions and revoke the MFN status of Pakistan. In order to put pressure on Pakistan, India further said that it will build dams to reduce the flow of water to Pakistan. Furthermore, DG ISPR Major Asif Ghafoor said that an incident like Pulwama happens only when there is something important going to happen. He further said that whenever there is an important event in Pakistan or when Pakistan is more stable, some sort of incident is staged in India or Indian Occupied Kashmir. India just wanted to portray Pakistanas a terrorist sponsoring state as the Saudi Crown Prince’s was scheduled to arrive in the country after two days of Pulwama incident.

Last month, India’s Army Chief General BipinRawat stated that Indian military is going to launch war games to test the Integrated Battle Groups (IBGs). IBGs are the center of Indian offensive military doctrine Cold Start. After the acknowledgement of CSD in 2017, it was the first time India showed willingness to prepare them for future warfare through exercises. But initiating a war either limited or total against a declared nuclear weapons state is a flawed strategy. Secondly, general elections are expected to be held in April and May, through this incident, the aggressive stance towards Pakistan can be used as an effective tool to win the favor of people during elections. Furthermore, after BJP government, India adopted more aggressive policies against Pakistan. The ruling Modi government is keen to play the Pakistani card to win the majority in upcoming general elections.

Pakistan always thinks and responds rationally; which discourages Indian leadership from considering war as an option in the nuclear South Asia. Presently, chances of limited war between the two states are very low because Pakistan TNWs successfully deterred India from from taking military action against Pakistan. But intimidation of any conflict either limited or total will lead towards nuclear holocaust.

Writer is Research Associate at Strategic Vision Institute Islamabad

Published in Daily Times, February 28^th 2019.