Shah Fahad
THE world around us is changing rapidly and the landscape of warfare has evolved with it over the past several years. Previously it was easy to identify your enemies, borders, hostiles, and important installations. Based on that you would develop and enhance your operational preparedness. However, that landscape is long gone because the operational domains of warfare have changed. You can choose to be in conflict with your enemy on ground zero or pre-conflict mode and win a war before it even gets started. From time to time, you will listen to news that Indian forces engage our forces across the border on the LoC. These minor incidents do not cause much damage to any party but it is a way to keep the pre-conflict state alive.
One of the first major installations that the enemy would want to target in a traditional attack is the supply lines and communications. If they manage to hit them with precision, they can immobilize you to a great extent. However, modern warfare demands a different kind of measure as compared to traditional warfare. There are five domains of modern warfare; land, air, sea, space and the internet. The enemy will spread misinformation using various means of communication and non-state actors will play their part to support that. Stock Exchange of any country is considered to be the lifeline of the economy; there are no monetary or fiscal measures to implement by the State Bank or employment or GDP figures to post if the Stock Exchange has crashed. Attacking a country’s Stock Exchange is an act of war and that is not something casual. This is one of the most serious offences that your enemy can commit to damage the economy.
This is exactly what happened at the Stock Exchange attack in Karachi. Ever since China has engaged India on its borders, the itchy fingers of Delhi have been trying to pull the trigger but to their utter disappointment, they don’t have the capacity to do that with Beijing. RAW does have proxies here that can provide them some solace in the times of a strategic crisis. It is no secret that BLA has been backed by RAW; something that our security agencies have proved several times. No matter what justification the Baloch Liberation Army offers for the attack, it is pretty clear that they are being handled by India and its intelligence agencies.
India wanted to sabotage Pakistani stock markets by planning an attack on the Stock Exchange, using BLA as a cover so their hands do not get dirty. If those terrorists had managed to enter the building then it would have been very catastrophic for the country, inflicting heavy financial losses on an already crippled economy besides striking fear in the hearts of investors. However, it was very fortunate that all terrorists were shot dead before they could have achieved their target, thanks to the RRF police officers.
Many critics believe it was an act of war on the part of our enemy, reflecting the Indian frustration caused by their troops’ encounter with Chinese soldiers and fatal losses. India has been losing territory and men on that border. Countries that were previously dependent on India for its defence have started challenging the New Delhi’s regional hegemony. As the ground started to shrink under Modi, he once again acted cowardly.
India seems to be suffering from war frenzy. The belligerent Indian government tried carrying out operations on the border in February last year. There have been increased terrorist activities in Karachi for the past several weeks and this attack comes as no surprise. If our security agencies can find solid circumstantial evidence that can trace back to RAW, then appropriate international forums must be approached against New Delhi’s destabilising moves.
No country will take an attack on its Stock Exchange lightly or casually. Our enemies surely deserve a befitting reply but in a different domain of modern warfare ie diplomacy. A traditional head-on collision will not be a suitable option for any country, especially when both countries are suffering from the Coronavirus outbreak because such a confrontation will be catastrophic. On two different occasions, Islamabad has already defeated New Delhi: the Kulbhushan Yadav case, and the Abhinandan incident. Sensible diplomacy can land India into hot waters right now. India should re-calibrate if they can afford two front war, especially when Russia has already rejected to mediate and the US cannot afford to face too aggressive China.
