As relations with Pakistan remain tense in the wake of the turmoil in Kashmir Valley, Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Arup Raha on Thursday said if India had opted for a military solution and not taken the “high moral ground,” Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK) would have been part of the country.
“Now, POK remains a thorn in our flesh as the problem still continues,” he said, adding air power was underutilised in the 1962 and 1965 wars with China and Pakistan respectively.
The IAF chief’s remarks in a seminar here came days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged up cases of human rights violations in POK and said as part of Jammu & Kashmir, POK belongs to India.
As the war of words continued unabated between the two neighbours over Kashmir, India on Thursday brushed aside the issue of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s fresh letter to the UN chief on Kashmir and said any such move will not change the reality that part of Jammu & Kashmir is under Islamabad’s “illegal and forcible” occupation and that it has no locus standi to comment on the internal situation in the Valley.
lamenting that India did not follow a “pragmatic approach” to security needs, Raha said when raiders attacked Jammu & Kashmir in 1947, it was the transport planes of the IAF which flew Indian soldiers and equipment to the battleground.
“And when a military solution was in sight, taking the moral high ground, I think we went to UN for a peaceful solution to this problem. The problem still continues. POK remains a thorn in our flesh today,” he said.
Calling for a pragmatic approach in dealing with Defence issues, Raha said air power, as part of the military power, would be required to deter a conflict in the region.
“Our foreign policy was enshrined in the charter of the UN, charter of the Non-Aligned Movement, as well as Panchsheel doctrine. We have been governed by high ideals and we really did not follow a very pragmatic approach, to my mind, to security needs. To that extent, we did ignore the role of the military power to maintain an conducive environment,” he said.
He said India as a country was “reluctant” to use military power, especially air power, in deterring adversaries when involved in conflict several times in the past. In the 1962 War, air power was underutilized because of fear of a skirmish, the IAF chief said.
Citing another example, Raha said in the 1965 conflict, India did not use air power against East Pakistan because of political reasons despite Pakistani Air Force operating from East Pakistan attacking Indian air bases, infrastructure and aircraft on the ground. “We had severe setbacks but we never retaliated,” he said.
The only time when air power was fully utilised was in the 1971 War and the three forces blended completely, resulting in the creation of Bangladesh in just 15 days, he said. The situation has changed and “we are ready to use air power to defend ourselves and deter a conflict,” he said.
On the issue of Sharif’s letter to the UN, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said,
“They can write as many letters as they want but this will not change the reality on the ground. The reality is that J&K is an integral part of India and part of J&K is under the illegal and forcible occupation of Pakistan. As far as the internal situation in J&K is concerned, we believe Pakistan has no locus standi in commenting on that and we are perfectly capable of dealing with it.”
He also criticised Pakistan’s decision to send 22 parliamentarians as special envoys to highlight the Kashmir issue on different international forums and said it would have been better to send “one envoy with the right message to the right country,” indicating that Islamabad should have sent a representative here to discuss cross-border terror.
Asked about the China-Pakistan economic corridor, Swarup said it passes through India’s sovereign territory under illegal occupation of Pakistan and that “India would obviously have concerns about any project there happening with third-party collaboration.”
Asked about Sharif in his letter to the UN chief criticising Modi’s remarks on Balochistan and POK as unwarranted and in contravention of the UN charter, Swarup said the issue is about people who are oppressed and crushed and raising it cannot be wrong.