new faith
   Date :16-Jul-2019

 
SEASONED former diplomat Mr. G. Parthasarathy, who was the High Commissioner of India in Islamabad when Pakistan launched the Kargil misadventure, has aptly put the psyche of the Pakistani rulers in proper perspective over the decades and contrasting the change taking place in India at the highest level over the last few years at the same time. As rightly said by Mr. Parthasarathy, there is a welcome and discernible change in Indian response to whatever the Pakistani rulers, the Armed forces particularly, are planning to destabilise or bleed India. And this welcome outlook has come at the highest level of policy making. Whether it is the Kargil war or the endless proxy war in Kashmir, India has responded with resolute force against the machinations of the enemy and made it known that any provocation would not be taken lying down any more.
 
 
Speaking to a news agency recently, Mr. Parthasarathy has drawn the attention of the people that the Kargil action by the Indian forces 20 years ago and the latest surgical strikes after the Pulwama terror attack in Kashmir was a clear message to the Pakistanis that if provoked, India will not hesitate to use force and that there would be a fierce retaliation. The Balakot surgical strike by the Indian Air Force on terror facilities functioning within Pakistani territory, a few months ago, was an apt response to Pakistan’s misadventure. This was an unprecedented action by India, hitherto unknown, sending a clear message to Pakistan that if it does not desist from using terrorists to destabilise India it will have to bear very serious consequences. The world too was surprised by the ferocity of the surgical strike and its precision. The world community at the same time appreciated India’s response to the cowardly terror attack in Pulwama. In fact the Balakot surgical strike changed the way the world looked at India. It realised that India has the capacity and the will to strike back at whoever tried to challenge the country’s sovereignty.
 
 
The Chinese too got similar lesson when India refused to be cowed down by its show of muscle and military power in Doka La. India refused to blink at this show of muscle by China and thwarted any Chinese territorial ambitions. Since then India has been on a full alert even in case of China and has started taking measures to secure its borders along Chinese territories. This should have been lesson enough for Pakistan to desist from undertaking any misadventure against India. But Pakistani rulers are loath to learn any lessons from past experience, at its own peril. In spite of these crippling blows, as Mr. Parthasarathy has very rightly said, the Pakistan Army has not changed over the years in the fond hope that it will be able to avenge its humiliating defeat in the Bangladesh war.
 
 
The people of India too have full faith in the top level leadership, both political and military, for their willingness to accord top most priority to national security and do whatever is required to give a befitting reply to those casting an evil eye. And the people are also convinced that this resoluteness on the part of the top level leadership to safeguard national interest and national security comes from the position of strength. The political leadership has put full faith in the ability of the Armed Forces to safeguard the interests of the nation. And on their part, the Armed Forces have lived upto to the expectations of the political leadership as well as the faith reposed by the countrymen.
 
 
Realising the challenges that external and internal security poses, the Government has undertaken a massive exercise of strengthening the hands of the Armed Forces by inducting advanced weapons systems required by all the three wings. This has naturally translated into India’s geopolitical standing getting its due weight in global affairs.