Share

Dueling Truths Follow Indian Raid in Pakistani Kashmir

“Pakistan’s Express Tribune, an affiliate of the New York Times, led its edition with the headline “‘Surgical’ farce blows up in India’s face”.

Advertisement

Indian soldiers travelling on foot crossed the Line of Control into the Pakistani-controlled portion to attack several targets based on intelligence about imminent attacks, said a high-ranking Indian official who would only brief reporters on condition of anonymity.

“I think we should show solidarity with our army engaged at very hot borders right now, and secondly with our actors”, he added, noting that the move to ban Bollywood production has been made by cinema owners of their own accord, not on government directions.

The Pakistani media witnessed such claims on Thursday after the Indian armed forces conducted surgical strikes late on Wednesday night on terror launch pads across the LoC to neutralise terrorists planning to infiltrate into the Indian territory.

Modi’s government has been struggling to contain protests on the streets of Kashmir, where more than 80 civilians have been killed and thousands wounded in the last 10 weeks after a young separatist militant was killed by Indian forces.

“India has re-established conventional deterrence”, through Thursday’s announced military action, said Harsh V. Pant, a strategic-affairs analyst at New Delhi based Observer Research Foundation. “We need to counter this narrative through a well-crafted policy”, former ambassador to the US Abid Hussain said. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that India engaged in unprovoked firing across the heavily militarized border, killing two soldiers. Authorities in India’s northern Punjab state said they were evacuating villages within 10km of the border.

The episode-India’s response to a militant attack on September 18 that killed 19 soldiers, which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-has further strained ties. This is no empty threat.

“The strategy will involve all instruments of national power”.

India, meanwhile, boasts about 100 to 120 nuclear warheads. India does not need nuclear weapons to gain victory over Pakistan at all, 90% of the Pakistan’s potential both economic and human is concentrated within 100km along the Indian border, ‘ the expert said.

It said if Pakistan wants to prevent an escalation of violence it needs to shut down the terror groups it continues to support. The implication was that even the limited use of force could trigger a Pakistani nuclear response.

The Pakistani ambassador said she had suggested to Ban that plans for a visit to India and Pakistan expected in November could be brought forward to avert a crisis.

India’s informal imports from Pakistan through the same channels consist of textiles, dry fruits, spices and cement. The attack was the deadliest in decades, and sparked a new war of words between India and Pakistan. Lodhi told him that Pakistan has exercised maximum restraint but would respond forcefully to any acts of aggression and provocation.

Second, Washington is likely working the phones with its interlocutors in Islamabad to urge restraint. Despite opposition between two countries, Russian Federation is to carry out Friendship 2016 military drills with Pakistan.

Advertisement

The journal noted that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has consistently offered closer economic and diplomatic ties to Pakistan as long as it stops supporting terrorism.

India evacuates border villages after raid on militants in Pakistan