India to rely more on subversion

INDIAN External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukharjee, who frequently hurled threats on Pakistan in the wake of Mumbai attacks, told parliament on Wednesday that there was no question of launching any retaliatory strikes against Pakistan. He said that the Government was opposed to such action despite demands by some political parties.




This is a welcome development in the backdrop of highly provocative and derogatory statements emanating from New Delhi since 26/11. The hard line adopted by Indian leaders after Mumbai incident had raised the level of tension in the Subcontinent to unprecedented levels and hopefully the statement of Mukharjee would help defuse the situation. However, political analysts are attaching a lot of importance to this shift in the Indian attitude as previously India used everything at its disposal for arms twisting of Pakistan and increasing pressure on the country. Some observers believe that this change has occurred following intense behind-the-scene diplomatic initiatives by different countries of the world and after Pakistan went extra-miles in proving its sincerity in probing the incident. However, knowledgeable circles believe that India has changed its strategy and instead of taking direct action against Pakistan, which could trigger a bigger conflict, Indians would now concentrate on acts of sabotage in Pakistan with a view to destabilizing the country. They have been doing so in Balochistan since long and there are confirmed reports of cash and weapons flowing in the province through Indian channels. Similarly, Indians are also exploiting the situation in FATA compounding problems for Pakistan. And declaration by members of Tehrik Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) that they would join hands with law enforcing agencies in identifying and killing Indian agents clearly shows presence of the enemy agents in Swat. Under these circumstances, there are reasons to believe that India would rely more on subversion in Pakistan and both the Government and people will have to exercise greater vigil to foil the designs of the enemy.