A fortnight later
Last week I met a professor from Cornell Unversity. Actually I didnt know him, I was having my lunch and he just came and sat at my table. As I finished my lunch and he was waiting for his we started with “hi”s and introduction. As soon as he heard that I am from Mumbai, a “Ohhh!!!” came out from his voice and the discussion turned to Mumbai terrorrist attacks and how unfortunate it is to see such bloodshed in the name of religion.
He was working on research related to various cultures of Middle-east, Indian sub-continent and Southeast Asia and had stayed at each of these places for 3-4 years. Our discussion left me thinking what is the solution, how do we make sure this never happens again?
The reaction from world leaders was on expected lines, “We hope pakistan will act.”
“India and Pakistan need to show restraint”
“We need to work together to solve this problem”
As expected there was lots of lip-service but no action. UN sanctioned JuD, but Pakistan decided its a charitable organisation without any support to terrorist organisations. What is the solution for india, whats the path going forward, what are our options?
First thing India needs to accept is it HAS TO act (alone, if necessary). No one will come forward and fight for India or Indians. I may sound more like a war monger here, but trust me it is better to fight and die once and for all rather than bleed to death with thousand cuts. If this means we play right into the hands of Jihadis, then lets do that, lets see if the Jihadi’s and Pakistani army together can counter Indian force.
Strategic Analysis:
I – All out attack
India attacks Pakistan, Pakistan retaliates. By itself Pakistan should not be a problem, they are low on fuel, wouldnt be able to run the war for long. A brief war with immediate objective of capturing as much territory as possible within 2 weeks or so. Problem comes when Pakistan takes help from its all weather ally China. This is where Indian diplomacy needs its full force, to use USA and Russian support against China. China would not want to antagonise both at the same time.
II – Surgical strikes inside Pakistan
india makes surgical strikes inside PoK terrorist training camps. Stop before this leads to a full blown war. Take rest for few days or weeks, once international pressure subsides redo once again. more surgical strikes. This may antagonise international commnity(no one will come forward and say yes we understand why you did this) but isnt this what pakistan doing in disguise, all promises but no action??? someone has to take action and if pak does not act on its own, india will take action to safe guard its interests.
III – Worst case scenario
Any of the above scenario leads to a full blown war, international peace efforts fail. Pakistan pulls the plug and explodes nuclear device in india. First thing in case of escalation for india is to work with israeli secret service to obtain info on Pakistani nuclear establishment. With close association between USA and israel, israelis shud be able to help and pinpoint (remember they wanted to destroy pak nuclear plants so as to kill islamic nuclear device in its nascent stage but india got the cold feet at last moment). So take help and destroy the nuclear plants, bombard the place. Trifurcate the country into NWFP and FATA which will be controlled and managed by NATO. This should help stop Taliban attacks on Afgahnistan. Second part being Balochistan, which is currently fighting for independence, india can buy oil and help baloch become masters of their own land. Leave the rest as Pakistan without military strength. Well out of control army, nuclear blackmail, terrorst infrastructure is hardly an advt of a responsible state.
I am no professional strategic analyst, but i do believe there is time and place for everything. And the time is right now.
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On completely diff note, I am happy for them, to be honest not sure if I wud have done the same in their place:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Shot_at_CST_girl_gets_married_with_shrapnel_in_head/articleshow/3815977.cms
