Surgical strike: How PM Modi learned from his mistakes and check-mated Pakistan

One of the most pivotal moments in literature is when Arjun found his inner peacenik and told Krishna that he couldn’t wage war against his brethren. What followed was the Gita, the world’s first and most effective powerpoint presentation as Lord Krishna explained the real nature of the universe to Arjun. When asked which was better, action or ‘renunciation’, Krishna explained that the latter was always better.

Arjun’s conundrum, the question between action and inaction, might as well have been Modi’s dilemma since he came to power. Should he act against Pakistan — our version of the Kauravas —  or does he give peace a chance? In the end, he learned that action was his dharma, but to reach that phase took time, as he realised the hard way that Pakistani establishment were not doves. Here’s how PM Modi’s Pak policy has evolved over the last two years:

First Phase of Modi’s Pak Policy: Sari-Shawl Diplomacy

Modi and Sharif in Lahore in December 2015 (PTI) 

After coming to power, in a gesture of goodwill, PM Modi invited Sharif and other SAARC leaders to his swearing-in ceremony. Modi wrote to Mian Sahib that he ‘looked forward to working with him in an atmosphere free from confrontation and violence in order to chart a new course in our bilateral relations’. He also thanked him for the lovely saree he had sent for his mother!

This was in June 2014, and that happy phase lasted for a while where the PM seemed to believe that his huge mandate gave him the chance to try out things which his predecessor wouldn’t have dared. In an attempt to thaw relations, Modi met Sharif on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Ufa, Russia in July 2015. India and Pakistan released a joint statement in which they promised to cooperate to tackle terrorism in the region, planned a meeting between the country's NSAs and both sides promised to help each other with the 26/11 case. The duo also had a 'courtesy meeting' in Paris during the Climate Change Summit. The two NSAs - Gen (Retd.) Nasir Khan Janjua and Ajit Doval - had a hush-hush meeting in Bangkok on December 7. The high point of this in-love phase was on December 25, 2015, when Modi made an impromptu stop in Pakistan to meet Nawaz Sharif and greet him on his birthday. The move came completely out of the blue and flummoxed his critics and political watchers.

Second Phase of Modi’s Indo-Pak Policy: Trust thy neighbour

PM Modi visits the Pathankot terror attack (File Photo) 

When the Pathankot attack took place on January 2, 2016, as a confident building measure, India invited a special-investigation team from Pakistan to collect data, a move that signed a departure from past refusal to give Pakistani investigators access after terrorist events like 26/11. The move was severely criticised all around and many felt that the Modi government had allowed culprits onto our crime scene. And they were right. Pakistan washed its hands off the attack, claiming that there was no proof that JEM or any Pakistani-supported group was involved, a move that left the government red-faced.

Third Phase of Modi’s Pak Policy: SAARC attack   

Syed Salahuddin and Rajnath Singh (File Photo)

Things really started going distinctly downhill after the death of militant leader Burhan Wani (July 8, 2016) in Kashmir as Sharif hailed him as a ‘martyr’. Many believed that Sharif’s volte-face was thanks to nudges from the Pakistan army who had him under pressure after revelations in the Panama papers.

At this moment, the sniping remained at a vocal level and India and Pakistan kept hitting back with comments. HM Rajnath Singh, who earned the moniker Ninda Mama (for saying 'kadi ninda' after every terrorist attack), even went down for a SAARC conference in Islamabad where he was met by protests from known terrorists like Syed Salahuddin and Hafiz Saeed leading the protests against him. To his credit ,Rajnath did voice a strong rebuke to Pakistan on its own soil.

Fourth Phase of Modi’s Pak Policy: Balochistan, Terror Card and Global Isolation  

Burhan Wani (File Photo)

By now,  Modi seemed to have heard enough. He launched a counterattack by using the Balochistan argument— one that had left Manmohan Singh red-faced in Sharm-El-Shaikh, Egypt, when he co-signed a statement with his Pakistani counterpart Geelani in July 2009,  for practically owning up to India fomenting trouble in Balochistan, leading to sharp attacks from the BJP in Parliament. But PM Modi is from a different era and he used the same Balochistan card to show Pakistan's hypocrisy when it came to Kashmir. 

During his address to the nation on Independence Day, PM Modi set the ball rolling when he said: “Pakistan forgets that it bombs its own citizens using fighter planes. The time has come when Pakistan shall have to answer to the world for the atrocities committed by it against people in Baluchistan and PoK. We are fully committed to the fundamental rights of the people. Our anti-terror laws are more humane than those of any other democracy in the world. Our governments and our security forces have shown restraint in dealing with these incidents.”

That restraint broke after Uri (September 18, 2016), a terrorist attack unlike any in recent memory where 19 jawans were burnt to death in their sleep. With the exception of a few liberal voices who think they speak for the rest of us, the nation wanted Uri avenged. 

In three speeches, India laid down the smack down on Pakistan on a global level to expose its duplicity on home-based terror outfits, its hypocritical stand on Kashmir and its hand in terror across the globe. Chronologically, the first one was Eenam Gambhir’s reply at UNGA to Sharif’s embarrassing eulogy to Burhan Wani, where Gambhir bestowed upon Pakistan the term ‘Ivy League of terrorism’. 

This was followed by PM Modi’s speech at the BJP National Meet at Kozhikode where he claimed that Sharif’s speeches were written by terrorists and asked Pakistanis why India exported software while Pakistan was known globally for terror. He also went out of his way to pin the link of global terrorism and its Pakistani origin and played up the Obama Bin Laden connection again. The final speech came from EAM Sushma Swaraj at UNGA who pointed out India’s repeated attempts to improve relations.

Delivered in crisp Hindi, she said, “We have in fact attempted a paradigm of friendship in the last two years which is without precedent. We conveyed Eid greetings to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, wished success to his cricket team, extended good wishes for his health and well-being. Did all this come with pre-conditions attached? And what did we get in return? Pathankot, Bahadur Ali, and Uri. Bahadur Ali is a terrorist in our custody, whose confession is a living proof of Pakistan’s complicity in cross-border terror. But when confronted with such evidence, Pakistan remains in denial.”

Fifth Phase of Modi’s Pak Policy: Surgical Strike 

DGMO Ranbir Singh and Vikas Swarup (PTI)

And finally came the ‘action’ bit of Modi’s policy, when Arjuna’s proverbial chariot – stuck between the two armies – finally moved forward. A clandestine pre-emptive surgical strike saw the Indian Army take out 7 terror launch pads inflicting 'significant damages'. While the reaction was celebrated by most Indians who never thought the government would allow the army to act, it left Pakistani establishment shell-shocked.  The reactions from the Pak establishment moved from denial to promises of retribution back to denial. Sharif said that Pakistan also knew about ‘surgical strikes’, something echoed by 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed, while Army Chief Raheel Sharif said ‘India’s misadventure wouldn’t go unanswered’.

On another note, as Pakistan huffed and puffed, Modi proved that his numerous foreign jaunts weren’t just to regale stadiums of jam-packed NRIs and hear them shout his name. Powers from across the world either backed India’s surgical strike or gave vague statements asking both nations not to escalate tensions. Russia hit out strongly at Pakistan, asking them to stop letting terrorists use their land while the US admonished Pakistan for throwing the N-word around flippantly. India’s decision to pull out of SAARC 2016 at Islamabad also saw other nations follow suit which left the Pakistan establishment looking more red-faced. This seemed to be part of the grander strategy India talked about to globally isolate Pakistan.

In his rhetoric, a pre-2014 Modi had promised to be strong and he finally walked the talk in 2016. While there are rumours about earlier governments also carrying out surgical strikes, this stands out because of the sheer scale of the operation and the government publicly owning it. If anyone is surprised by India's sharp hawkish turn, one ought to know that it has been a long time coming. Time and again, like Modi in his two years, India has tried to turn the other cheek and extend an arm to Pakistan only to find itself hit. The Simla Agreement in 1972 to counter the escalation post the 1971 war petered out, as did the 2004 statement post SAARC to decrease troops. It's time for us all to accept that we were living in fools' paradise if we thought that we could be friends as long as Pakistan continued to foment mischief, not on a global level as it allows terrorists to act with impunity from its own soil. To expand upon Hillary Clinton's metaphor, you simply can't be friends with people who grow snakes in their backyard. 

In fact, DGMO Ranbir Singh promised in his post-Uri press conference: "I assure you that Indian army is prepared for any evil design by the adversary, and will give a befitting response.  All intelligence agencies and security forces are working in close synergy and necessary action is being taken against various inputs received.” Now it’s pretty clear to everyone out there including the Pakistan army, ISI, terrorists and others that times have changed. The old days of restraint are gone, India is not going to sit around and watch idly. Hell, India will hit you even before you get in range because the days of ‘strategic restraint’ are over.