Ceasefire With Pakistan: Remember A Leopard Cannot Change Its Spots

News18

18-05-2025

Last Updated:
General Zia-ul-Haq's infamous bleed-India-by-1,000-cuts remains Pakistan army and government's pusillanimous permanent plank
On May 10, US President Donald Trump announced through his X handle a ceasefire between India and Pakistan effective 5 pm IST. It was apparently after Pakistan had cried on his shoulders and played the victim card to the hilt.
Never the one to pass up an opportunity for limelight and media Arclight, Trump used the opportunity to bail out the US client state which Pakistan is with a $1 billion loan. IMF loans come with a list of conditionalities including privatisation, global tender for major government contractors, downsizing of government departments, etc.
One wonders if the impugned loan was hemmed in by the condition that it will not be diverted for military use including buying arms and ammunition. It is common knowledge that the US-based manufacturers and contractors normally benefit from such conditionalities. Be that as it may.
Whatever the contours of the ceasefire, the entire world knows that one doesn't trust Pakistan any more than he trusts a rattlesnake except when he has the upper hand like China and the US have had for a long time in their relationship with Pakistan. Trump's hyphenating India with Pakistan is not new. That the US has bases in Pakistan is an open secret. But what has stumped Trump watchers is his egregious description of Pakistan as a great nation in his gushing and condescending tweet.
Pray what makes it great? Like the articulate spokesperson of the BJP Sudhanshu Trivedi says while India has its TCS and Infosys to boast, Pakistan's only claim to notoriety is its vast network of terrorist nurseries, nine of which were destroyed by the Indian armed forces in a precision attack on May 7 in retaliation to the Pahalgam massacre orchestrated by Pakistan on April 22 on unsuspecting Hindu tourists.
Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's bold leadership, India has said it will not turn the other cheek. Instead, he enunciated a new doctrine — any act of terror would be treated as an act of war. Adversity brings the best out of one including a nation. He and his cabinet committee on security along with the armed forces chiefs crafted a strategy that is bound to keep India in a good stead for decades or even longer. Thus, was born Operation Sindoor that is going to be India's template to counter Pakistan terror in particular.
It is anchored in:
Terror and war are the same doctrine. Hitherto Pakistan was disingenuously hiding behind the argument that terrorists were at best non-state players and at worst they weren't Pakistanis at all.
India will not launch a freewheeling, indiscriminate attack on the enemy nation like Israel and Russia have done in the recent past. Terror hotspots will be identified and destroyed with precision missiles and drones among others. It is this refreshingly humane approach to striking back that has won international respect albeit grudging from certain quarters.
While India will not sit quiet unlike what the Manmohan Singh government did in the face of the 26/11 attacks by the Pakistan-sponsored terrorists, India cannot relax its guard any soon. General Zia-ul-Haq's infamous bleed-India-by-1,000-cuts remains Pakistan army and government's pusillanimous permanent plank. Pakistan is piqued by India's rapid growth. Therefore, it hates India viscerally.
While the India-Pakistan hyphenation is flattering to its ego and boosts its low self-esteem a wee bit, the equation is ludicrously laughable. It is sad that a few Indian commentators too have become a prey to the misinformation campaign spearheaded by Pakistan with its ally the Global Times of China, and have started talking India and Pakistan in the same breath. They counsel restraint on both, touché, little realising that the provocation came from the stealthy neighbour who cannot be wished away as the former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee famously remarked once.
The Congress trying to score brownie points by pitchforking Indira Gandhi's feat in carving Bangladesh out of Pakistan in 1971 in juxtaposition to Modi's Operation Sindhoor is unfortunate, churlish and puerile. When chips are down, a political party tends to hark back to its past little realising that such backhanded compliment to the present leadership does a positive disservice to its own cause in the electoral sweepstakes. Be that as it may again.
Eternal vigilance is not the price for protecting democracy alone but also from the evil eyes and designs of neighbours. That Pakistan harbours evil intents for India is trite and is not likely to slacken. It is good that the Indian armed forces have only pressed the pause button. It is also good that India has spurned mediation on Kashmir. With a rejigged strategy against Pakistan, India reserves the right to hit back with thunderous force against terror and military installations of Pakistan even if there is a hint of a small provocation. Suspension of the Indus Water Treaty is a classic example of non-kinetic attack on Pakistan. Together with precision hitting, India has moved to the exalted levels of modern warfare under PM Modi's mature leadership.
(The writer is a senior columnist. He tweets @smurlidharan. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18's views)
tags :
Operation Sindoor
Location :
New Delhi, India, India
First Published:
May 18, 2025, 18:10 IST
News opinion Opinion | Ceasefire With Pakistan: Remember A Leopard Cannot Change Its Spots