Editorial: Pakistan’s mindless escalation
The developments in the aftermath of Pakistani-sponsored terror attack in Pahalgam demonstrate that the symbiotic relationship between Islamabad and the terrorist outfits on its soil goes beyond providing arms and training
Till now, there was at least a façade of pretension that there exists a thin line, however blurred it may be, between the state and non-state actors in Pakistan, linked to multiple terrorist attacks in India. That line stands completely erased today. It has been proved beyond any shred of doubt that they are the two sides of the same coin, working in tandem and bound by a common diabolic cause. The developments in the aftermath of the Pakistani-sponsored terror attack in Pahalgam demonstrate that the symbiotic relationship between Islamabad and the terrorist outfits on its soil goes beyond providing arms and training. The Pakistani establishment is even prepared to go to war with India, in support of terrorists that its military has nurtured over the years. The video footage from Pakistan showing state funerals being given to terrorists killed in ‘Operation Sindoor’, with a large number of army officers in attendance, provides irrefutable evidence of this nexus. While India carried out precise and calibrated military strikes targeting terrorist sites of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Pakistan blatantly chose to target defence and civilian facilities in India. This is proof — if at all there is a need for one — that the state and non-state actors have merged into a single entity in Pakistan. Clearly, Islamabad has crossed the proverbial red line and ratcheted up the escalatory ladder by launching missile and drone strikes against multiple defence installations and civilian facilities in Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, and Rajasthan.
India does not desire any kind of escalation. But, it is fully capable of giving a fitting reply to Pakistan’s misadventure. ‘Operation Sindoor’ was based on an internationally accepted principle of the right to self-defence and the right to bring the masterminds and planners of terror attacks on Pakistani soil to justice. By attempting to hit military and civilian targets, Pakistan committed a grave error and must face the consequences. A clear message from ‘Operation Sindoor’ is that India will not hesitate to hit deep into Pakistan’s Punjab, the heart of its military establishment, to neutralise terrorists. The goalposts for the military response have been shifted now. India has also called Pakistan’s bluff on its oft-repeated nuclear blackmail and sub-conventional warfare. Handlers in Rawalpindi have lived too long in the comfort of waging asymmetrical warfare, counting on India’s reluctance to take aggressive action. Now, those assumptions will no longer hold good. The dastardly attacks like Pahalgam do not happen overnight. They are the result of meticulous planning in choosing the timing, location and methodology. In its barbarity, the Pahalgam tragedy is next only to the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Both the LeT and JeM are creatures of the Pakistan Army and the ISI. If Pakistan is not willing or able to destroy its terror infrastructure, India would have no option other than dismantling the terror infrastructure wherever it exists.
