E-Paper
Is a covert strike across the border a practical option?
NEW DELHI: The option of India launching covert military strikes inside Pakistan has taken centre stage, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi assuring the country that
NEW DELHI: The option of India launching covert military strikes inside Pakistan has taken centre stage, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi assuring the country that those behind Sunday’s Uri attack “will not go unpunished”.
The army has hinted at a Pakistan hand in the fidayeen strike, the deadliest against soldiers in Kashmir in a decade. So, what are India’s options? A swift, covert strike on terror camps in Pakistano-ccupied Kashmir is seen as an effective choice to send the message across.
New Delhi opted for surgical strikes across the border in Myanmar after 18 soldiers were killed in an ambush in Manipur in June 2015. India’s special forces are trained to carry out surgical strikes and their response will depend on the political resolve of the ruling dispensation, say military experts.
“What is required now is a quiet, covert operation that should not be spoken about at all. Just carry it out,” former IAF chief Fali Major said.
But a consensus within the political class is required for developing such a capability.
Experts also point to pitfalls of military machismo. “A military response is bound to escalate things. This is a terror strike and not military action. And remember, Pakistan is not Myanmar,” a top military officer said.
The consequences of Pakistan being a nuclear-armed state, which unlike India doesn’t adhere to the no-first use doctrine, have to be weighed in.
Pakistani deterrence revolves around first use. A covert assault by India could have disastrous consequences, experts warn.
“You have to hit Pakistan where it hurts. They know nothing will happen,” said former northern army commander Lt Gen BS Jaswal (retd).
Such operations cannot be planned and executed overnight. It would require a complete, decade-long revamp of India’s military, intelligence and political decision-making system to get targeted operations’ capacity.
It was an enormous task and given the country’s many other pressing domestic problems probably best not undertaken, a military source said.
There is also another argument against such “adventurism”.
India is positioning itself as a responsible rising power. Pakistan can afford to support terror strikes because it has no such ambitions.
India needs to carve out a place for itself before it can afford to take military gambles.
