India needs to come out of its Pakistan fixation

India has done well in the form of openly conducting Uri and Balakot strikes. India has to draw red lines with Pakistan to ensure that it remains fixed in its place. India has to remain focused on China as far as security threat is concerned.

By Maj Gen Ashok Kumar, VSM (Retd)

The 1947 Indian Independence Act passed by the British parliament and ratified by the Crown on 18 July 1947 enabled the independence of India and Pakistan. There were more than 500 princely states who were given the option of joining either India or Pakistan. Pakistan itself emerged in two parts – West Pakistan (current day Pakistan) and East Pakistan (current day Bangladesh).

It was natural that both countries govern their relations with the world as well as between them based on their relative size and Comprehensive National Power (CNP). Unfortunately, Pakistan looked at being on par with India and fairly succeeded in tying down India with Pak fixation. Barely within months of independence, it attacked the state of J&K to annex it as Maharaja Hari Singh, the ruler of this princely state had neither joined India nor Pakistan.

Once the instrument of accession was signed in favour of India as per the 1947 Indian Independence Act, the entire state became an integral part of India. India intervened militarily in October 1947 and the first war between India and Pakistan commenced which resulted in a ceasefire after UN intervention on 05 January 1949. While India had close to two-thirds of J&K, the rest remained under Pakistan’s occupation, a situation which continues more or less today as well.

As one goes ahead, India extended an olive branch to China to support it in the regional as well as the international forums besides signing the Panchsheel agreement in 1954 and creating an ecosystem of Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai. This not with standing, China backstabbed India and launched a full-fledged war on 20 Oct 1962.

It was during this time that the USA and the West under the US started arming and supporting Pakistan. USA provided Sabre jets and Patton tanks to Pakistan in addition to other arms and ammunition. Emboldened by the defeat of India in the 1962 war with China, enhanced bonhomie between Pakistan and China including handing over of Saksgam valley to China from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and qualitative equipment edge, Pakistan launched the 1965 war against India. Pakistan continued to operate from a sense of parity.

Though the outcome of 1965 was favourable to India, a crushing defeat could not be handed over to Pakistan in decisive terms though India learnt to strategise offensive operations both across the CFL and IB in this war indicating a strategic shift in its warfighting. Whatever we had gained in the 1965 war, we lost all that including Haji Pir pass during the 1966 Tashkent agreement. The concept of continued parity became a norm in the mindset of the Pakistani establishment and the Indian establishment also kept buying this argument in its security calculus despite no parity between both the nations. The biggest achievement of the Pakistani establishment was to tie down India largely to its own activities.

With a strategic shift in the 1965 war, India started changing. Its next manifestations came during 1967 skirmishes in Sikkim with China where the Chinese were beaten back comprehensively by Indian soldiers under Gen Sagat Singh, hence breaking the Chinese invincibility. This was followed by the 1971 war wherein the Indian nation demonstrated its unparalleled capability of integrating the entire nation and assisting East Pakistan to liberate themselves from the horrific oppression of West Pakistan.

The war of 1971 dismembered Pakistan once and forever wherein a new country, Bangladesh was born for meeting the aspirations of Bangladeshi people. 93,000 prisoners of war (POW) were taken into Indian custody and the conflict terminated merely in 14 days in December 1971. Having dismembered Pakistan in 1971, it would’ve been more appropriate to focus on capacity creation including infrastructure development, especially the axial and lateral connectivities on the Northern Borders, enhanced force structures and indigenous weapon systems to meet the China challenge. While the capacity creation did start, our Pakistan focus on warfighting continued wasting our critical years.

While both India and China developed peaceful relations for their mutual progress despite unresolved borders and un-demarcated LAC, George Fernandes has to be credited with formally announcing China as the No 1 enemy way back in 1998 based on the support provided by China to Pakistan, Myanmar and other anti-India elements including development of String of Pearls around India. Before the focus could fully shift to China, Pakistan detonated nuclear devices in response to India in 1998.

Pakistan also attacked India in Kargil by crossing the LOC, though it was a localised conflict, in 1999 resulting in the fourth war between India and Pakistan. With India’s decision to fight on its own side of the LOC, Pakistan succeeded to get away even without getting adequately punished militarily with more than 500 Indian soldiers making the ultimate sacrifice. Pakistan continued operating from a parity mindset and India could not come out of it completely. In the process, strategic time was lost to build up the requisite capacity against China.

Having faced China in Doklam in 2017 and now standing face to face with China in Eastern Ladakh on the LAC, India has now picked up the pace to strengthen itself in all domains to meet the China challenge. It was a good step to reorient certain forces from the Western front for meeting the China challenge on the Northern borders. Despite Pakistani provocations related to conventional conflicts or proxy wars, India should not get trapped in Pakistan’s fixated mindset as that is the master plan of China to keep India away from capacity creation.

India has done well in the form of openly conducting Uri and Balakot strikes. India has to draw red lines with Pakistan to ensure that it remains fixed in its place. India has to remain focused on China as far as security threat is concerned. Pakistan’s fixation has to be out once and forever.

India has already focussed on building all-weather infrastructure on Northern borders through Border Roads Organization (BRO) and other national/state agencies. Since India is running against time, it needs to change its approach without further delay to give open fund support to BRO to shrink the planned timelines for infrastructure development. BRO should be allowed to develop infrastructure as much as it can without being limited by budget.

The output has already increased by utilising modern techniques and it can be taken to unprecedented levels. The creation of all-weather roads and multi-use infrastructure in the forward areas will result in the presence of our sovereignty markers ahead, the creation of habitat and reducing the expenditure in the sustenance of defence forces and the civilian population. In addition, it will generate employment for a large segment of people whose well-being is the most important spin-off.

There is no time to look back. While all threats emanating from Pakistan should be looked at and be addressed, India should aspire to become the fourth pole of the world in addition to the USA, Russia and China. Pakistan fixation has to be demolished forever.

The author is a Kargil war veteran and defence analyst. He is a visiting fellow of CLAWS and specialises in neighbouring countries with special focus on China. He can be contacted at trinetra.foundationonline@gmail.com and tweets from @chanakyaoracle.

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