Military retaliation of any kind is best left to the generals. An elected government should give the armed forces the autonomy they require if the need arises for such an intervention. The operational freedom that the prime minister, Narendra Modi, granted to the tri-services chiefs during a high-level security meeting is a welcome step. The minders of the military were asked by Mr Modi to remain fully prepared and were given the liberty to choose the “mode, targets and timing” of India’s response in light of the bloodbath that was perpetrated by terrorists in Pahalgam recently. Seamless coordination between the political leadership and a nation’s army is of utmost importance during tense times. Mr Modi has ticked the right box in this regard. It must also be pointed out that this show of aggression on the part of Mr Modi’s government is also consistent with the current mood of public anger in India. The political dividends that are likely to accrue from Mr Modi’s rhetoric and actions after Pahalgam can be expected to go the Bharatiya Janata Party’s way.
Yet, this is also the time for the nation and its leadership to mull some hard questions. For starters, accountability must be affixed for the lapses that led to blood flowing in Pahalgam. It must also be pointed out that the repeated assurances by the Centre that normalcy has returned to Jammu and Kashmir may have played their part in ushering in a sense of complacency. But the biggest quandary lies in the option of military escalation — whether limited or otherwise in scale. The cross-border strike in Balakot which had followed the terror attack in Pulwama had fetched Mr Modi the votes but had not met the objective of dismantling the terror apparatus across the border. Jammu and Kashmir has continued to bleed even after Balakot. A full-scale war between two neighbours with nuclear weapons — their allies will get sucked in — not only raises the risk of regional destabilisation but is also likely to aggravate the global economic downturn. Perhaps a mix of retaliatory gestures would serve New Delhi better. A show of upscaled vigil and demonstrable aggression along the border — it will keep Islamabad under pressure psychologically — complemented by the full pursuit of strategic, diplomatic and economic isolation of Pakistan could be the more sensible option in the short term. As for the long term, New Delhi must lower the rhetoric and invest in Kashmir's security and in the unity of the nation. People, not missiles, win wars against terrorism.