ISLAMABAD – India is preparing for a military option against Pakistan butfear of Pakistan Army and resulting embarssing situation is holding itback, India media has reported.
Retribution for the attack is only a matter of time, army officials say.There are several reasons to suggest that this may be so, India today hasreported.
US National Security Adviser John Bolton’s February 15 phone call to hisIndian counterpart Ajit Doval gave India a virtual carte blanche for aretaliatory strike.
(Photo: Yasir Iqbal)
India’s strategists will aim to prevent the military action from spirallinginto a conflict or even a limited war. There is a high possibility thatmilitary action will be targeted across the LoC, which India claims, andnot, say, the Punjab province, which is the Pakistani heartland.
Options such as a cruise missile or air strike could be difficult becausethey could quickly escalate and invite retaliation from the other side. Ourretaliation will be determined by the outcome we seek. If we seek a merefirepower demonstration, then Pakistan can do the same in return. If theoutcomes are not commensurate with the effort, it will embarrass the Indianarmy, says Lt General P. Ravi Shankar, former DG, Artillery.
The fact is that there is no risk-free option anymore. While General Rawatsays he has promised to undertake any hard option the political executivetasks him with, he is fully conscious of a few other facts.
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The Pakistani armed forces are now on a heightened state of alert. Thisessentially means activating all their early warning elementsAirborneWarning and Control System (AWACS) in the skies to detect for intruding IAFaircraft, posts and bunkers along the LoC on full alert and reconnaissanceaircrafts sweeping the Arabian Sea to look for Indian Navy warships.
This time, India faces an adversary who is fully prepared and hasthreatened retaliation; Pakistan premier Imran Khan was quite clear andcategorical. That would mean casualties. This is why any option chosen bythe government will be tough and could potentially draw it into anescalatory chain creeping.
Every option will be debated, says Lt General D.S. Hooda (retired) who, asthe Northern Army Commander, oversaw the 2016 surgical strikes. How far arewe willing to go and how many casualties are we prepared to take will formthe basic debate. But it won’t stop at that; it will continue, to ascertainwhat we will do when there is a response from the other side.(Photo: Pankaj Nangia /Mail Today)
If the government indeed chooses to go in for sub-conventional covertoptions, then it could choose to launch a fire assault using an array of155 mm howitzers firing at terrorist targets and launch pads along the LoC.
A commando raid will be tough given that vast sections of theSrinagar-based 15 Corps area, which covers 450 km of the LoC’s 750 km, isnow extensively snowbound, making cross-border movement difficult. Also,many of the paths, the dry nullahs leading across the LoC, have beenextensively sown with anti-personnel mines by the Pakistan army,
