War and peace

EDITORIAL

Pahalgam killings have ignited the collective rage of the Indian people

The spiking of tension between India and Pakistan following the recent brutal terror attack on tourists in Pahalgam is a natural follow-up to the inhuman carnage. India, in the past has suffered immensely due to terror attacks engineered by the neighbouring country, whether it is 26/11 attacks in 2008 on Mumbai city or December 13 attack in 2001 on the Indian Parliament, or for that matter countless other large and small assaults, claiming many innocent lives. However, when the burden of tears of the widows and the orphans resulting from the 2016 and 2019 terror attacks in Uri and Pulwama, respectively became too heavy, the Indian government first conducted retaliatory surgical strikes on launch-pads used by militants in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), and then Indian Air Force crossed the Line of Control and dropped bombs into Balakot, Pakistan, on the Jaish-e-Mohammed training camp.

The Pahalgam killings, however, appear to be the flashpoint that ignited the collective rage of the Indian people as well as the administration, with the Indian government immediately going for some harsh anti-Pakistan measures. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the country’s highest decision-making body on national security, met Wednesday evening and reached some stringent decisions including suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, closure of Attari-Wagah Border check post, cancellation of SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES) for Pakistan nationals, expulsion of Pakistani military advisors stationed at the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi, reduction of diplomatic personnel at the Indian High Commission in Pakistan and withholding access to the official X (formerly Twitter) account of the government of Pakistan.

These diplomatic decisions of the Indian government clearly appear to be phase I measures, with phase II measures probably in the pipeline. These second level decisions could be undisclosed decisions to be implemented by defence forces on the lines of surgical strike on POK. One gets an indication of the possible military action from the warning of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that India will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backers by pursuing them to the end of the earth.

Pakistan, in response, has announced the immediate closure of its airspace to all Indian-owned and Indian-operated airlines, while suspending the 1972 Simla Agreement and said that it would close the Wagah border with India. The Pakistan government has further stated that any move to obstruct or redirect the flow of Indus water allocated to Pakistan, or any violation of its rights as a lower riparian state, will be treated as “an act of war.”

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Stock Exchange witnessed a steep fall on Thursday, with KSE 100 Index shedding over 2,500 points amid rising geopolitical tension with India at a time when the domestic economy is already in dire straits. On the other side, both India and Pakistan have tested their missiles. Pakistan has also issued a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen/ Mariners) for the Arabian Sea and initiated a naval live fire exercise, while putting its military on full alert in anticipation of a possible military response by India. India’s aircraft carrier INS Vikrant has also moved into deep sea waters.

It is said that ‘Peace is cheaper than war!’ And then war is neither a permanent solution, nor fitting reply. The loss of lives and property is the main tragedy linked to war, besides the skyrocketing inflation. The world is already witnessing Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas wars, and yet another war is not in the global interest. India and Pakistan need to seriously think about it!