Rein in hotheads, be alert for escalation

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been quick to realise the gravity of the situation and urged his colleagues on Wednesday to avoid chest-thumping on the issue of the Indian Army’s cross-LoC strike, but has he been quick enough? Across poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, BJP posters and hoardings have gone up heavily politicising the Army action of September 28-29. These aren’t just in praise of the Army but also PM Modi. From the start, the use of the expression “surgical strike”, rather than something more realistic in keeping with the scale of action, was evidently intended to yield a political dividend for the ruling party. In some measure this is unavoidable. But ministers with high-profile portfolios then dipped into Hindu mythology to make fun of Pakistan when the latter denied that a cross-LoC punitive Indian incursion had occurred.

This was the complete opposite of the sober public statement by the director-general of military operations after the “surgical strike”. The statement made clear it was an anti-terrorist action and nothing more, and hinted at this country’s readiness to resume normal ties. It’s plain that the PM has no wish to escalate tensions, a direction in which Pakistan may want things to go in an effort to show its commitment to its “Kashmir cause”, a misleading description to hide its territory-grabbing efforts. Its posture of denying the post-Uri event seems designed to instigate a disclosure of documentary proof of the cross-LoC gambit. Our ministers and some leaders in the BJP played into Islamabad’s hands with their hyper-nationalistic observations.

It is this tendency that Mr Modi appears to want to curb, as it became evident in his remarks at the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS). A full disclosure of the cross-LoC action by our special forces is not advisable as this will reveal important tactical information to our adversaries. This has indeed been the advice of the military and the intelligence agencies to the CCS. But in the light of the sceptical coverage by the global media, from which Pakistan’s propaganda gains, our military could release tightly-edited images of the terrorist launch pads after their destruction by Indian commandos. But no matter what, Islamabad seems to be stepping on the gas. The CCS was informed by top security officials that some 100 terrorists were close to the infiltration point on Pakistan’s side of the LoC, and that around 200 had already entered Kashmir. Pakistan Army Chief Gen. Raheel Sharif has openly voiced his desire to “punish” India. The escalation is clearly not in our control post-Uri, and we need to be ready for any eventuality.