Premvir Das: Timidity does not a great power make

The ability to take tough decisions and act strongly will determine India's position in the emerging world order

A terrorist attack of the kind on a military establishment in Uri is unheard of. The Uri establishment is not some expansive Air Force station — like the one in Pathankot — and the attack on it was not like the one on five-star hotel,s as the November 2008 Mumbai attacks were. One may call Uri a transit camp or an administrative base but it is clearly a high-profile Army establishment and for four militants to violate it, is unimaginable. The argument that the evil deed was carried out in the early hours when security is lax is a lame excuse. It speaks poorly of the Indian Army’s readiness if a motley group of four, even if equipped with AK 47s and grenades,can do what they did.

This, of course, is one side of the question. What is far more important is how we deal with such horrendous attacks on our sovereignty because surely, the military represents the ultimate in a nation’s honour. For the attack on Mumbai, we did hang one captured terrorist but have kept “requesting” Pakistan ever since to bring the other miscreants to justice, most recently in a communication addressed by our foreign secretary to his counterpart. Even for this latest invasion — for, that is what it is — we can do no more than express sympathy for the “martyrs” and their “supreme sacrifice”. The prime minister has said the perpetrators of the crime would not go “unpunished”, which raises the question: Was he referring to the Jaish-e-Mohammed or the Lashkar groups or to Pakistan?

Different views have been expressed in the media by senior people on how India should react to such a situation. A former Army chief has proposed that we create our own “non-state” actors and “fidayeens”, who will do to Pakistan what it is doing to us. This is clearly euphoric, sir, because our religion does not tell us that we will go to Heaven if martyred.

Clandestine operations by our intelligence agencies are a possibility but somewhere in the years gone by, we surrendered that prerogative as well. It is no brain-teaser to say that our Army should respond to the Pakistan Army whenever the latter resorts to aggressive moves such as shelling, because it already does that in more than ample measure. It is also pretty easy to say that we should prevent cross-border infiltration; the fences have not been put there for nothing. It is also irrelevant to quote the nuclear weapon status of both countries. The other view — that we should remain calm and “mature” — is typical of the passivity we have displayed hitherto.

At the least, India should have recalled its high commissioner to Pakistan and threatened to break off relations with that country if it did not take immediate measures to rein in the two main terrorist groups there. The fact that the ammunition used in the Uri attack bore markings of the Pakistan Ordnance Factory was justification enough to establish complicity. Second, all United Nations Security Council members should be approached to have Pakistan listed as a terrorist state. At least three of the five Security Council members have strong trade or defence ties with our country, in which purchases of billions of dollars have either been made or are in the offing. The issue should also be raised forcefully at the next session of the UN General Assembly. Concurrently, all diplomatic interfaces with Pakistan should be put on hold.

This brings us to the issue of “other” possibilities. While war can never be ruled out as an option by nation states, especially those which see themselves as “powers of consequence” it is clearly one of the last resorts. But there are other measures short of that ultimate step, which may be taken to show our determination. Limited air strikes on camps known to harbour and train terrorists, even if they lead to some collateral damage, are one possibility; it is unlikely they will result in retaliation by the other side. A land operation across the border is neither desirable nor will it achieve much, but there is no reason for us to not cast our nets farther. One measure is to put the port of Karachi under contraband control. This will immediately put shipping to that port under great stress. The Indian Navy is in a position to execute that mission, with Pakistani naval capabilities not able to combat our enforcement. Similarly, shipping coming to India en route to Karachi should be debarred. This will automatically dissuade companies from visiting that port and/or lead to steep increase in insurance rates. We will hurt some but they will hurt much more. In short, Pakistan should be made to feel the heat; at present, it is laughing all the way to the “bank”.

Countries seeking to become great powers do not just need to be seen as big emerging markets or great civilisations that have survived when others have disappeared. They must also be seen to act strongly when the going gets tough. Applause from the thousands of non-resident Indians in foreign capitals may enliven our spirits but ultimately it is our ability to take tough decisions that will decide our position in the emerging world order. Timidity does not a great power make.

The writer is a former Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern Naval Command. He has also served on the National Security Advisory Board