Several situations surrounding India’s cross-border engagement with Pakistan were not normal in nature or perception. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has rightly caught on to a statement that ‘advance information’ had been given from the highest government level in Delhi to Pakistan that a ‘retaliation’ to the Pahalgam massacre was in the offing, and that the idea was only to target terrorist outfits, not the military. This obvious info-leak was attributed to External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar. Reports from Pakistan had hinted as much – that they were informed about some action, though it happened all of a sudden after a brief pause; which ‘caught them off guard’ and yet they “caught up” with the situation in a jiffy through military retaliation.
On the face of it, this “sharing” of information looks abnormal if not absurd. Pakistan was repeatedly provoking India with its ‘terror’ tactics; and the surgical strikes did not have the desired impact in the long run. Killing of over 40 CRPF jawans by a suicide squad with Pakistani link in 2019 was a big provocation; now, what happened in Pahalgam was a worse provocation – identifying Hindu tourists and killing them right in front of their women and children. Some 26 persons were slain in the most brutal manner. With an avowed aim to inflict a thousand cuts on India, Pakistan was never a friend to this country. Moreover, hits on terrorist outfits within Pakistan did not warrant an advance intimation or concurrence. Such an indulgence would defeat the very purpose of a military action – more so as these terrorist outfits were offshoots of the Pakistani military. Its military intelligence is directly involved in the training and arming of terrorists. It is also perceived that Pakistani soldiers with special training are sent in as terrorists to unsettle life in Kashmir. Clearly, informing the military there that India was targeting only the terrorists and not the military was a grave error. For sure, the Pakistani military went into quick action and moved the likes of Masood Azhar into “safe” locations and provided them double protection. Which could be why India could liquidate only Azhar’s sister and her family, not the terror mastermind himself.
The abrupt manner in which the military action was ended by India – immediately after demolishing Pakistan’s air defence systems – raised many an eyebrow. In normal course, this was ‘facilitation’ for a larger offensive; not an end in itself. Then, abruptly, things cooled down. How the leadership should act in such sensitive situations is not for us to dictate. Yet, there are many unanswered questions. Deputing an all-party delegation abroad is seen as an attempt to “buy peace” within and to win the allegiance of those countries. Rahul Gandhi was also justified in demanding that the government make clear how many fighter jets India lost in action. The Modi government tactfully maintains that Operation Sindoor has not been called off –thereby keeping its mouth shut on many vital aspects. Clearly there are missing links that do not add up.