Pakistan's next attack may be chemical with drones

Time of India

a day ago

Born in Meerut, India and after finishing early education, opted out of IIT, Kanpur to join NDA, Khadakwasla, Pune. Commissioned as an officer in the Indian Army in December 1975 at Kargil and has combat experience of the IPKF in Sri Lanka and the Kargil War. Trained armed forces officers in NDA, Army War College and Kashmir Valley. Commanded an Infantry Battalion. Post retirement, served with the Government of India in several capacities including e-Governance Division in MeitY as well as in National Security Council Secretariat (PMO) till a couple of years back and was instrumental in policy analysis, public-private -partnership for Cyber Security and other related fields such as crypto-currencies, AI etc. A Published author of several books such as 'The Fourth Estate as a Force Multiplier for the Indian Army', 'The Kargil Victory: Battles from Peak to Peak' and 'Kargil Heroes' and authored a large number of articles in various magazines. Areas of interest: Defence Strategy and Military History, Geopolitical and Strategic Developments and Science and Technology'. LESS ... MORE
With Indus Water Treaty in abeyance after the Pahalgam terror attack and launching of Operation Sindoor, the terrorists, Pakistani political leadership and Pakistan Army have publicly been threatening India with dire consequences. Bilawal said either the water will flow or the blood; Hafiz Sayeed, 77 years old, Laskar-e-Toiba chief, threatened that, 'woh pani rokenge, hum unki saanse rok denge' and Pakistan Army Generals have echoed the same sentiments to stop the Indians breathing. What does that mean, and how do they want to do it?
These statements are not mere rhetoric or plain visible jingoism but seem to have been uttered by angry men licking their wounds after receiving the thrashing by the Indian Armed Forces, and they mean that something sinister is brewing in their minds. Considering Pakistan doesn't have the capacity to face the might of a 1.2 million-strong Indian Army, fighting a conventional war alone with India is not the best option, let alone the threatened use of nuclear arsenal. China is unlikely to jump into the fray other than supporting Pakistan with radars, weapons, arms, ammunition and aircraft. Bangladesh is only adding fuel to the fire and will remain an inconsequential, irrelevant irritant. Only Turkey is likely to support Pakistan militarily in any significant manner, but it doesn't warrant opening a separate front. Then what eggs Pakistan on?
Reading between the lines, let us consider what the words to stop India from breathing mean. Literally, it is a threat to choke the Indians. It leads us to surmise that a reference is made to the use of choking gases or chemical agents to block the respiratory tract in which the nose, throat and lungs are ultimately filled with gases or liquid, which is dry land drowning. Types of other chemical threats include the use of nerve, blistering, blood agents and other incapacitants, which have been developed over a period of time.
World War I was the first time, when in 1915, the Germans used chlorine on the western front. With the introduction of the respirators, gases, which could circumvent it, were developed and Mustard gas was introduced to attack the skin. Nerve agents also made their entry shortly thereafter.
The need for the prohibition of the use of asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases in war brought out the 1925 Geneva Protocol, which prohibits the use of chemical and biological weapons, and it entered into force in February 1928. Finally, the Chemical Weapons Convention was established in 1993. CWC bans the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling and retention as well as requiring the destruction of these Chemical weapons. 193 States, including India, are signatories to this treaty. India has ratified it too.
Even though the State of Pakistan has also signed and ratified it, what about the so-called non-state actors – the terrorists, as well as the military of Pakistan, who are openly advocatingthe use of chemical gases? Reports of Pakistan Army infiltrators, disguised as terrorists, using chemical weapons in Kargil at Tololing did circulate in the strategic community but were not verified later.
Hafiz Sayeed and the Pakistan Army General, when they both speak the same language, it makes a serious case. Pakistan is shopping abroad and collecting primary material to finally assemble chemical bombs/chembos. These chembos could ride at the back of drones and head at an opportune moment for an ideal target, such as the upcoming new train to Srinagar or pilgrim places in the hinterland, and spray chemical rain or clouds, and if it is of persistent nature, it could result in a serious tragedy. Shooting them in the sky too close to their intended target would also be dangerous, as the chemical vapours would settle down and still be active in the dispersed zone. India needs to be ready to take countermeasures.
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Views expressed above are the author's own.