1) I agree.
2) The IOK issue cannot be kept alive
except by fueling the insurgency through 'salami tactics;' our diplomatic offenses don't mean jack. Utterly useless. The West, particularly the US has clearly stated (publicly as well as in its own declassified strategy documents) that propping India up (which includes taking India's side on territorial disputes, sharing intel, refraining from public criticism over human rights issues, etc.) in order to contain China is a major US strategic goal for the coming decade(s). So, the useless proclamations, street renaming, irritating jingles, dossiers of proof of Indian rights abuses, etc., are all for moot.
3) To do the above properly (supporting the legitimate freedom struggle directly) requires a level of clandestine sophistication that our current intel officers don't seem to have; Israeli tech and NSA top-sec intel sharing (including real time geocoordinates of freedom fighters) has made things considerably more difficult. But does that mean we give up; that we throw in the towel and use cringe-y excuses to essentially say that our hands are tied? What if we did that when we had to build our nuclear deterrent? I can only thank God that this type of strategic lethargy didn't exist back then, otherwise we wouldn't be a nuclear power today. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures --- we need to up our game, not lower our standards.
4) The solution to the above in a country with intel services that have gone through massive modernization reform and that actively seek the best and brightest men and women in their country to serve (we have done neither) is to come up with innovative and deniable ways to support the insurgency against the illegal occupation. Unfortunately, our policymakers - from GHQ to the PMO - have chosen the lazy, easy way: fooling themselves and the rest of the country that diplomatic and moral support will do the trick. What a joke.
5) Finally, this begs the question: how do we plan to correct our rapidly increasingly deterrence deficit with India in the gray zone - the area of conflict under the threshold of open war? Indian proxy warfare through Baloch militants (and patronage of TTP) leads to regular fatalities in Pakistan. What is our answer? Where can we answer? How? What tool(s) do we have to raise the cost for India's intel and defense establishment to dissuade and deter them? Can a denial-based defensive posture yield peace and stability in the face of a belligerent India itching for escalation?
I rest my case.
@SQ8 @Areesh @Taimoor Khan @PanzerKiel
(tagging to get your thoughts)