Indian Surgical Air Strike on Pok Terrorist Camps Shows the New Face of a Determined Indian Leadership
British Rule
The 18th and 19th century up to the mid 20th century was the time the British controlled the destiny of India. They followed a pro-active policy with "offense" as a cardinal principle and established their hegemony all over Asia. The British left India in 1947 and logically the Indian state should have followed the British policy. Unfortunately, this did not happen as the man who took over as India's Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was a man who was more a philosopher than a political leader. He set in motion a set of principles and rules where world domination had no place. He gave the old British policy of pro-active action a go-by and under him India mainly followed a policy of reaction than action. Even the war of 1971 that led to the liberation of Bangladesh was more a reaction as over 10 million refugees had flooded India due to the atrocities of the Pakistan army.
The Indian state itself like a lumbering elephant was unable to react even when there were good grounds to show ones muscle by crossing the western frontier and the LOC. This did not happen even when the Kargil conflict(1999) took place and the terrorists attacked the Indian parliament ( 2003) and later killed over 300 persons in a terrorist attack in Mumbai in 2008.
The Pulwama attack where 43 Indian para-military soldiers were killed has however been treated differently and the old "durg" ( fortress) mentality given a go-by. The Indian attack across the LOC by 12 Mirage 2000 deep penetration fighter bombers is thus a water shed in Indian and sub-continent politics.
The attack
On 25th of this month, Premier Narendra Modi gave the go-ahead to the military to attack the terrorist camps in POK( Pakistanan occupied Kashmir). This was a momentous moment as Indian Mirage 2000 aircraft carrying 1000 kg laser guided bombs flew from a number of Indian bases and hugging the border ented into POK and bombed the terror camps at 3 places. The most significant attack was at Balakot about 60 km inside Pakistan in the North Eastern state of Pakhtoonwali.
The Pakistani forces failed to detect the movement of the IAF planes. This shows that their Air Defence like in the failure to detect the US entry of special forces which entered to eliminate Osama Bin Laden is not up to the mark.
The Indians claim that nearly 200-300 terrorists were eliminated but there is no confirmation of it. Even if not a single terrorist is killed the very fact that Modi authorized the IAF to cross the LOC and attack targets inside Pakistan to avenge the Pulwama attack is by itself the event of the century.
Last word
For centuries Hindu kings waited at their doorstep to fight the invader and never took the proactive approach to attack the invader when he was advancing. This is what historians refer to as the "Durg" mentality. Hiding behind a fortress and waiting for the enemy. In one stroke Modi has changed that and in the months to come, Pakistan will be sure that the days of not reacting and waiting for action from Pakistan and Pak based terrorists is not going to happen. In that respect, this attack by the Mirage 2000 planes is an event that will be remembered for long.
There has been a reaction as the PAF has mounted a counterstrike but by all reports, nothing much is achieved and both sides have lost one fighter plane.
The future is hazy but Modi has in one stroke turned the clock back and given a new impetus to India's foreign policy. This will not be to the liking of Pak leadership as well as China.
