Ask them how they feel? Better yet, ask the Bengalis how they feel?
Hardly. The GoI enjoys good relations with Bangladesh. Razakars notwithstanding. India and BD are enjoying the warmest relations in decades!
Actually PA's capabilities are increasing vis a vis India. She is slowly closing some of the major advances IA had made and is buying exactly the weapons she needs to pin down any advancing IA Armour Formations. There was never a time when PA was equivalent of IA. Putting all the propaganda theories aside, IA always had superior resources at her disposal. IA could always afford to throw more men, money and weapons against PA.
Its no longer about the IA or PA. Its about the IAF and PAF now.
There is no propaganda theory. IA did have superior resources in terms of quantity. However that quantity was not/could not be deployed against Pakistan. The reason was a combination of logistics and other borders. In all situations India could never field/exploit those numbers in a timely manner. It was a lumbering giant. That is changing now.
Than you need to update yourself on Pakistan's missile capabilities. Pakistan does not has just a few missiles, it has many missiles and mind you very sophisticated missiles that can strike deep in the heart of India. Why would PAF need to to fly deep to drop bombs deep inside India when she can launch of stand off weapons near the borders and let them strike the targets with pinpoint accuracy. Your Generals are aware of Pakistan's capability to strike deep inside India, that is why they have avoided putting a show down
.
Not really. Pakistan's missile capabilities are nothing to boast of.
This starts straight from CM's to BM's. As far as CM's are concerned, we are putting up a rather decent SAM network, something that Pakistan is not even close to doing. We are a LOT less vulnerable to Pakistani missiles than Pakistan is to ours.
Again you need to update yourself on Pakistan's budget, the military last year consumed around 17% of the total budget. Pakistan's economy might be going through a rough patch right now, but this trend is not going to stay for the long term. There is wide consensus in Pakistan that the economy needs to grow. Even this corrupt and inefficient Government like PPP has taken notice of this and has initiated several steps to get the economy back on track. The entire premise behind your argument is flawed because you are assuming that Pakistan's economy will continue to grow at 2-3%. Anyone who has studied Pakistan's economy closely would know that for Pakistan to grow at 6-7% is not much of a big deal, we only need some reforms to initiate this growth on which we are working on.
You can work on it all you want. I dont see action happening. Pakistan is in the midst of a quasi civil war. You dont just jump back to 7% growth in a couple of years.
Most economic predictions about Pakistan are clear that Pakistan will till 2020 stay under 5% growth rate. Frankly thats not enough for your own domestic needs considering your young population that needs to get employed and especially when your biggest rival in addition to having a bigger base is growing faster.
It was at best a tactical move, never a strategic move.
Doubtful of this statement. Pakistan invested way too much in it to be a mere tactical move. It was meant to be a strategic initiative to bog India down much like how it did to USSR in Afghanistan.
It was meant to put India in such rough conditions that India came running to Pakistan asking for a peace deal/compromise. That never happened.
I have no idea of what gap you are talking about, i would actually argue that PA today is a lot less vulnerable than it was in the 1980's. PA today is a much more mobile and fast force than it was in the past. She can mobilize much faster than IA and has the right weapons to pin down any advancing formations or IAF sorties.
IA can mobilize much faster today as well. Its not about the PA mobilizing faster than IA. Its about IA being able to mobilize in a certain amount of time that allows GoI to respond before international pressure sets in.
The mindset has changed on the Indian side where they have accepted that they cannot win a large scale static conventional war against Pakistan and are changing their doctrine to fight fast and mobile battles against Pakistan. I would have thought that Operation Parakram and 26/11 was proof enough of this that IA cannot defeat PA in a show down. Words alone won't make your argument any stronger, actions would and Indian actions have been contrary to your words.
Well IA is still in the process of a major modernization that appears will get completed around 2020.
Secondly, IAF today is much better and capable vis-a-vis PAF. This applies to both technological aspects and numerical aspects. Yes PAF acquiring BVR capable platforms and AEW&C does mean it has the capability. How many planes does the PAF have to exploit that capability.
This coupled with changes in IAF infrastructure-which again as i said is being developed to be able to field massed numbers against Pakistan-for the first time.
This coupled with lack of LRSAM coverage in Pakistan. And frankly in the timeframe of 2020, PAF's position will only get worse.
Well the time frame is quite short my friend, you have till 2014. The only reason India has a strong hand is because Pakistan is occupied with problems on its Western borders and India has been lucky enough to piggyback on the efforts of NATO to acquire a foothold in Afghanistan to start a proxy war against Pakistan. She has done quite well in that regard, but as the US winds up and leaves, who is going to provide India with the protection she needs in Afghanistan? Or better yet, the US has started to implement stabilization measures in Afghanistan and Indian support for terrorism inside Pakistan is contrary to those measures. Sooner or later, the US will put its foot down against Indian activities.
You are assuming that the insurgency in Pakistan is because of Indian activities in Afghanistan. Pakistan NOT been able to provide any kind of proof to any authority either Indian or NATO or American. Yes heresay of uncircumcized bodies of terrorists donot count for proof unless you are a Pakistani waiting for a conspiracy theory.
These are Pakistani's who are killing in Pakistan. They want Taliban rule. Your army has ruled out an operation against them because of the massive backlash it would yield.
Im sorry, your argument that everything will be nice and dandy as soon as US leaves Afghanistan is highly mistaken.
Pakistan is suffering from insurgency by the very mouths that it once fed. It will take a jolly good time period to clean them off. India is in a strong position not because Pakistan is bogged down by Afghanistan. Its because India has increased its economy to the point that major powers in the world are willing to oblige India because of it. India has increased its diplomatic ability coupled with military abilities.
And it seems its only going to get better.
Pakistan being caught in the doldrums in an added advantage to India, not the core of the changing world order.
As long as we continue to outpace Pakistan economically and consequentially militarily and diplomatically, we will continue to be in a better position vis-a-vis Pakistan than ever before.
Why would an India in such a strong position give in to Pakistan's demand? Or give equality to Pakistan. Today India and Pakistan are not equal by any measure of stick and are not likely to be so in the future as well.
A big incentive would be long lasting peace. It does appear that Indians have gotten cocky because they have been able to attack and bleed Pakistan through a proxy war while Pakistan has not been able to fight back due to divided attentions. As this WOT winds down, this will free up resources and would allow PA and the ISI to focus on India. Than the real game would start as it would be upto India whether she wants to up the ante or not. Any terrorist support by Indian Intelligence Agencies will be replied in kind by Pakistan.
Lasting peace? India already has peace. Even at the worst of times in the 90's when Pakistan's ISI directed the entire Afghan jihad infrastructure against India, India grew faster than Pakistan.
ISI can focus all it wants on India now. India has used this intervening period to be build up its own set of defences. The LoC is not half as easy as it used to be earlier for militants to cross over. Our military is not half as unprepared as it was when Kargil occurred.
As far as offensive options are concerned, today we are financially and diplomatically capable of stoking terrorism in Pakistan a lot more easily and efficiently than Pakistan can reply in turn.
We have and are building global alliances and favourable positions to be used when the need arises. Pakistan as i said before, is no longer in the position it always was against India - India's perfect counterweight.
Let me put things in a better perspective here - what does India gain by compromising with Pakistan. Pakistan has nothing to offer India. We have peace. And Pakistan seems unlikely to get the required heft to be able to stoke terrorism in India, India has prepared quite well for that. Besides, the global environment and apetite foe 'freedom movements' has diminished quite a bit.
So what do we get? Consider this fact as well. Kashmir is a small part of a big country for India, so most Indians dont want to/dont care enough to compromise with Pakistan over non tangible gains. Its just not that big a deal for India. Whereas for Pakistan, Kashmir is a large part of a small country. So it means a lot to you.
And any deal for Kashmir can only go through the Parliament by Special majority, as any cessation of territory mandatorily requires it. And no govt in the recent past has ever acquired that kind of a majority. Even if GoI wants to compromise on Kashmir, the rest of the Parties will not allow it. They will ask - what do we gain. Abstract notions of peace dont cut it.
We already have what we want. What we really want is trade. We are getting it already without even talking on Kashmir.
