Assertive New Delhi has the neighbour rattled
Pakistan's response to the successful strike that India conducted against militants across the border in Myanmar is strange, to say the least. Pakistan's Senate on Thursday adopted a resolution that slammed New Delhi's “hegemonic mindset”; its Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif assured his people that Islamabad would “protect our vital interests”; Mr Sharif's advisor Sartaj Aziz reminded that Pakistan “was not Burma”(sic); and, the discredited former President and former Pakistan Army chief Pervez Musharraf warned that Pakistan could leverage its nuclear power to strike India. It would appear from these statements that India had launched a military offensive against Pakistan and not against militants elsewhere. It is true that Union Ministers Manohar Parrikar and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore have said or implied that India would hit at the heart of terror directed against it or its people anywhere in the world, and that those who have reasons to worry by the country's assertiveness are the ones that are most alarmed.
There was nothing jingoistic about those remarks. India ought to not just be firm in words but through deeds as well. The Myanmar episode has demonstrated the Union Government's commitment to proactive action. Since Pakistan has been claiming ad nauseam that it has been combating terrorism, it should have welcomed the Indian action. At the very least, it should not have gone on an overdrive to condemn New Delhi's response to the massacre of 18 Indian Army jawans in Manipur by militants who operate from across the border in Myanmar. Pakistan is rattled because of two reasons: It believes that the assertive Modi Government, unlike the earlier Congress-led United Progressive Alliance regime, is in no mood to tolerate militant activities — and that includes those which emanate from Pakistani soil.
Islamabad's sabre-rattling is to send across a message that India should not even entertain the prospect of ‘hot pursuit’ against terrorists based in Pakistan. The second reason is that Pakistan is reported to be in some ways backing the trouble that militant outfits have been creating in the North-East for India, and, therefore, a crackdown on these organisations will further expose that country's nefarious designs. Indeed, any activity that is aimed at destabilising the country or creating fissures has always had Pakistan's approval, whether it was the pro-Khalistan movement or the ongoing separatist campaign in Kashmir.
It is amusing to hear sections of the commentariat claiming that the Indian Government's ‘hot pursuit' will imperil the already fragile relations between Pakistan and India. For decades now, ties between the two have been less than robust despite New Delhi's accommodative attitude. Unfortunately, India's bending over backwards in a bid to not rupture the peace process has been interpreted by the Pakistani establishment — especially its military and the Inter-Services Intelligence — as a sign of weakness, and encouraged it to escalate the anti-India campaign. It is time to craft a new narrative in which India, while not being the aggressor, shows the courage to hit back hard when the need arises. As for the threat of a nuclear strike that people like General Musharraf and like-minded hotheads issue, let Pakistan realise the fatal consequences of such action.