I am a well-wisher of Pakistan
Despite what may have been rumored before - I am not anti-Pakistan.I just dislike it when the Pakistani Army and Jihadi top brass do certain things. These people know exactly what upsets me and they know it is time to stop acting like that. The world knows the Pakistani militarists are capable of doing terrible things - we don't need constant reminders of their potential for senseless violence.
I have no problems with any other Pakistanis. From their perspective - I am a well wisher of Pakistan and I believe in being a sensible person. At times I feel I comes across as a more patriotic Pakistani than someone like Zaid Hamid (not that it takes much effort to do something like that).
It is this aspect of my thinking that prevents me from suggesting that India's posture at the border and along the LoAC be revised rapidly.
To recap - during Parakram we moved a significant amount of war material to the border. I don't want to go into how much was moved, however, I do want to say that it is not cost effective to move this stuff back to peacetime stations.
By using this material up in exercises in Rajasthan and Gujurat, we are able to achieve the dual goal of reducing the stockpile and maintaining a high level of training among our troops. As the Pakistani military attache has already witnessed, our armed forces are keen to develop into a truly networked modern strike force. This is the best way for us to achieve our national security goals without expending any excess funds.
As things stand today - we are still experiencing cross border terrorism. Some of this is on account of terrorist groups not responding to the Pakistan Army's pleas to cease violence - yet other parts are due to factors beyond anyone's control - i.e. the lure of the conflict economy. Clearly the lack of progress in the prosecution of LeT members involved in the 26/11 attacks is a sign of the struggle deep within Pakistan. Somehow it is still considered "okay" to kill Indian civilians in Pakistan - people like Ajmal Kasab still enjoy a great deal of moral support in Pakistan.
I understand that not all Pakistanis feel this way and under the Pakistani Army's leadership a struggle is underway to change mindsets. As things stand now - the possibility of a decisive confrontation between Islamists and the Pakistan Army still looms large over Pakistan.
As a well wisher of Pakistan, the most horrible scenario that comes to mind is where the Islamists take control of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal and precipitate a nuclear war that kills millions of Indians and Pakistanis.
Clearly the Indian armed forces have to be prepared for that eventuality.
Obviously - we do not want to alarm the Pakistanis to the point where they lose focus from their national problems - ex. their war on terror - but we have to do some things to be prepared for the most terrible things happening.
So now you know where I stand.
In the spirit of cooperation, lets move forward.
posted by maverick @ 7:24 AM
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