NEW DELHI – Pratap Bhanu Mehta, former president of the Centre PolicyResearch in New Delhi which is one of India’s top think tanks, has concededIndia’s defeat after the Pulwama incident in Indian-occupied Kashmir (IOK)and termed Indian anger “self-destructive.”
In his column published by *The Indian Express *on February 23, heexpressed his views following the Pulwama incident and rising tensionsbetween Pakistan and India.
“Pakistan has won because our public culture has become corrosive,” hestated, “The tragedy of Pulwama is not just that soldiers died; it is thesense that we are acting as if Pakistan has won.” he added.
He acknowledged that international pressure, diplomatic response andsurgical strikes were inadequate to the task of deterring the situation.
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He further admitted that India has not built ‘kind of intelligence’, covertoperations and technological capabilities for a genuine response tosub-conventional warfare.
“It is easy to vent out anger at Kashmiris; it is far more difficult toaccept the truth that in the last five years we made the situation inKashmir far worse,” he stated, “After Pulwama, suffocation has grippedIndia.”
