Strategic trap
INDIA has increased the arms race in the region with its immature conduct. The trio of Hindu fanatics Modi-Shah-Doval – since 2014 – has been trying to put entire regional peace in jeopardy by provoking its nuclear neighbours like China and Pakistan.
The warmongering Indian Establishment under Premier Modi is looking for any chance to malign its neighbours over flimsy grounds.
It is very unfortunate that the nuclear button of India is in the hands of highly irresponsible and warmonger officials like Rajnath Singh, Ajit Doval and Amit Shah, who possess RSS’ ideology.
These warmonger politicians are trying to accomplish the so-called dream of Hindu Rashtra and Akhand Bharat (United India) by setting aside Nehruvian concept of Secular India.
There are many incidents in the past in India, which categorically imply immature behavior of the Indian Establishment regarding its policies towards security and safety of sophisticated weapons.
The recent incident of theft of uranium in different states of India, the firing of a missile into Pakistan and the misfiring of 3 bombs from Pokhran Field Firing Range (PFFR), are the practical demonstration of India’s irresponsible behavior being a nuclear state.
These incidents also reflect India is deliberately looking for any misadventure in the region by provoking its nuclear-armed neighbors.
These Indian incidents could have serious repercussions for the people living across the border as well.
By testing the military might of Pakistan and China, India is making a strategic mistake.
Likewise, there are many other incidents of the strategic trap as well, which are reported in India and also showed its negligence for the protection of weapons.
For example, in 2017, a rocket-guided bomb was misfired from Pokhran range and landed near a strategically important area Mohanagarh which is a few miles away from Pakistani border.
Most recently, the Indian Army conducted Airborne Exercise at Pokhran to validate its rapid response capabilities along the Pakistan border.
The exercise included combat-free fall jumps with a Guided Precision Aerial Delivery System and battle drills in a simulated hostile mechanized environment.
The Indian government, however, also failed to provide a logical reason for these deliberate strategic blunders.
Instead of cooperating with Pakistan to investigate these strategic traps, India is acting offensively against China and Pakistan by giving offended statements.
The firing of missiles into Pakistan and near its border is a matter of concern for the international community as well.
They must come forward and press India for its irresponsible behavior and also for a vague mechanism to protect its conventional and non-conventional arsenals.
The world must realize that any strategic mishap could trigger full-scale conflict between two nuclear-armed states.
They must seek an explanation from the Indian government regarding these incidents. This is getting serious now.What if these explode in an army dump or in a military compound?
There would be a huge loss of personnel lives. But, Indian government has been totally ignoring the consequences of its strategic mistakes.
The recent incidents categorically implies that there are likely chances that the Indian nuclear button may fall into the hands of the warmongering Hindu establishment, which may trigger a bigger conflict with China or Pakistan.
The Indian actions have also triggered another debate regarding the safety of nuclear arsenal.
The question which arises here is do people in charge of India’s nukes have the basic competence to handle conventional and non-conventional weapons?
Was this really an unauthorized or accidental firing? Why was there a long delay by New Delhi in acknowledging the incident?
Could Pakistan be blamed if it assumed that extremist right-wing Hindu elements had taken control of the missile system in India and fired it deliberately into Pakistani territory?
Has Indian government risked the lives of 1.6 billion people in South Asia? All these questions requirea comprehensive response from the Indian policymakers.
Pakistan, on the other hand, is acting maturely by not prolonging the recent Indian strategic traps.
Both the international community and Indian defense analysts have praised Pakistan’s mature and timely response.
Pakistan has the state-of-the-art security and safety mechanism for its nuclear arsenals. Now, it’s Indian turn to show some maturity and sensibility.
New Delhi, as a bigger country, has a cushion of geography, while Pakistan, driven by the insecurity of a small territory, has a nuclear security doctrine of first use.
To avoid destruction of its arsenal and delivery systems by a pre-emptive Indian strike, it deems it necessary to strike India first in the event of hostilities threatening to break out.
This makes the situation more dangerous in the subcontinent. Whether India’s opacity contributed to this episode is uncertain.
The changing nature of India’s explanation in these early days has not been reassuring. It is impossible to wring all risk out of dangerous weapons.
Brinksmanship works, to some extent, because processes that unfold during a crisis are only partly controllable.
Yet the missile episode reinforces that policymaker should be under no illusions that they can fully control these weapons.
—The writer is an Islamabad-based expert on Indian strategic affairs.
