Pragmatic Euphony  

Pakistan dodges the real issue again and the US seems to be buying it.

The Indian Prime Minister has unequivocallly ruled out a military response. No movement of Indian troops to their forward positions has been reported so far. All the reports, that are being verified by the US intelligence agencies, are of twenty thousand Pakistani soldiers moving from their western borders to the Indian border. What does the US White House spokesperson mean when he says –

We hope that both sides will avoid taking steps that will unnecessarily raise tensions during these already tense times.

The central issue is not tensions at the border or the war hysteria being whipped up by Pakistan. The issue is the terror attacks on the Indian soil that are planned and perpetrated from Pakistan. The last one in Mumbai being the watershed in this continual cycle of sponsored terror in India.  

The questions that India raises, solely through diplomatic means, remain the same. Will Pakistan put an end to promoting, planning and perpetuating these terrorists who have wreaked such havoc on Indian soil? If not, then what price will the international community make Islamabad pay for continuing this unholy alliance between the army, ISI and the jehadis.

The US, along with China, Iran and Saudi Arabia, should seek answers to these questions from Islamabad. They’d do well to nip all attempts by the Pakistani army to deflect attention from these substantive issues in the bud.

If the diplomatic encirclement of Pakistan does not pay India dividends soon, the fears of “raised tensions” due to actions by India may come true soon. And that might not be in anyone’s interest in the region.