The second front
Editorial
The Indian Express
May 28, 1999
Title: The second front
Author: Editorial
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: May 28, 1999
The government is going to have to get its act together fast. The
loss of two Indian aircraft in the Kargil sector on day three is the
kind of incident that might have been expected in the environment in
which the Indian airforce is operating. Even so, it represents an
escalation of the conflict which the country has not been
psychologically prepared for. It poses fresh challenges on the
military front raising questions about the quality of intelligence on
hostile deployments in the Kargil sector and whether it is as good as
it should be to minimise IAF risks. Internationally there will
inevitably be more calls for restraint and pressure on India to hold
back. Before the perception of incompetent handling of the Kargil
situation grows any further, the government needs to show it can meet
all the problems presented by Pakistani incursions with-out letting
internal and external tensions run out of control. Above all, it must
prove that events are not getting ahead of its own planning.
The challenge to Indian diplomacy is twofold, one to clear
misperceptions abroad about Indian military action and two, to keep
the lines of communication open at all levels with Pakistan. On the
international front it has been a slow start with a few key heads of
foreign missions in New Delhi being briefed at their request by the
Defence Minister in the absence of the Foreign Minister who was in
Paris. Vis-a-vis Pakistan, New Delhi has kept in touch at political
and military levels and will need to maintain steady contact despite
the provocations. From the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's early
and misguided call for a ceasefire it is evident there is a shortage
of accurate information about the Kargil situation. Other than a
well-intentioned attempt to be even-handed, there is no logic in
calling for a ceasefire in a scenario where Indian posts have been
over-run by well-armed mercenaries aided by the Pakistani army. One
of the priorities therefore is comprehensive factual briefings for
foreign governments on the line of control in Kashmir which came into
effect by agreement between India and Pakistan after the Bangladesh
war but has been breached by frequent Pakistani intrusions of which
the latest is the best executed. The world also needs to be reminded
that Pakistan has switched support from one outfit operating on the
Kashmir border to others after the first was declared a terrorist
organisation by Washington.
India has said its intention is to clear out the mercenaries and to
keep military action confined to its side of the Kargil area. This is
sound. However, Pakistani efforts to fudge the issue by claiming the
IA,F is bombarding their side of the line, will test India's restraint
and international credibility. The government needs to prepare
domestic and world opinion for the steps it may need to take to regain
lost ground. It is all too easy in the present tense situation to say
the Lahore process was a farce. The rhetoric was overblown and
probably clouded judgment in some government quarters. But the
essential fact remains that it is in India's interest to try and talk
sense into the Pakistani leadership even as India continues with the
military action it has been compelled to take.
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