New Delhi: The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has included the regions of Gilgit-Baltistan and Muzaffarabad, which are under Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), as part of its Jammu and Kashmir meteorological sub-division.
This is a tactical message the Narendra Modi government is sending Pakistan following the Handwara terror attack and the encounters after it. Hizbul Mujahideen commander Riyaz Naikoo was killed in one such encounter in Pulwama Wednesday.
India considers PoK as part of its own territory. However, Pakistan has been trying to separate Gilgit from PoK and, for all practical purposes, is treating Gilgit Baltistan as a separate province.
The Handwara attack and India’s retaliation underlines the difference between tactics and strategy. Terrorist attacks are tactical and India’s response of sending a message through the meteorological department is also tactical. They don’t decide the bigger picture, which is decided by strategies. However, tactics are important and in Chinese scholar Sun Tzu’s words, “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory”.
Also read: Instead of organising spectacles, military must focus on faultlines in Kashmir now
Article 370 & strategic gains for India
The revocation of Article 370 and Article 35a was a strategic move that is dictating geopolitics in South Asia. However, it is delusional to assume that the move will lead to an elimination of tactical issues like terrorism, especially in a complex geopolitical place like Kashmir that is being contested by two nuclear countries.
With the removal of Article 370, India has made Kashmir like any other state, and this makes India’s claim on the now-union territory stronger.
Some left-oriented parties of the world have opposed India’s action in Kashmir, but even they aren’t speaking now. The world is rejecting left ideology, whether it is Bernie Sanders in US or Jeremy Corbyn in UK. Today, it seems like the suspension of Article 370 led to strategic gains for India.
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