The second front

The government is going to have to get its act together fast. The loss of two Indian aircraft in the Kargil sector on day three is the ki...

The government is going to have to get its act together fast. The loss of two Indian aircraft in the Kargil sector on day three is the kind of incident that might have been expected in the environment in which the Indian airforce is operating. Even so, it represents an escalation of the conflict which the country has not been psychologically prepared for.

It poses fresh challenges on the military front raising questions about the quality of intelligence on hostile deployments in the Kargil sector and whether it is as good as it should be to minimise IAF risks.

Internationally there will inevitably be more calls for restraint and pressure on India to hold back. Before the perception of incompetent handling of the Kargil situation grows any further, the government needs to show it can meet all the problems presented by Pakistani incursions without letting internal and external tensions run out of control. Above all, it must prove that events are not getting ahead of its own planning.

The challenge toIndian diplomacy is twofold, one to clear misperceptions abroad about Indian military action and two, to keep the lines of communication open at all levels with Pakistan. On the international front it has been a slow start with a few key heads of foreign missions in New Delhi being briefed at their request by the Defence Minister in the absence of the Foreign Minister who was in Paris.

Vis-a-vis Pakistan, New Delhi has kept in touch at political and military levels and will need to maintain steady contact despite the provocations. From the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan8217;s early and misguided call for a ceasefire it is evident there is a shortage of accurate information about the Kargil situation. Other than a well-intentioned attempt to be evenhanded, there is no logic in calling for a ceasefire in a scenario where Indian posts have been overrun by well-armed mercenaries aided by the Pakistani army.

One of the priorities therefore is comprehensive factual briefings for foreign governments on the line ofcontrol in Kashmir which came into effect by agreement between India and Pakistan after the Bangladesh war but has been breached by frequent Pakistani intrusions of which the latest is the best executed. The world also needs to be reminded that Pakistan has switched support from one outfit operating on the Kashmir border to others after the first was declared a terrorist organisation by Washington.

India has said its intention is to clear out the mercenaries and to keep military action confined to its side of the Kargil area. This is sound.

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However, Pakistani efforts to fudge the issue by claiming the IAF is bombarding their side of the line, will test India8217;s restraint and international credibility. The government needs to prepare domestic and world opinion for the steps it may need to take to regain lost ground.

It is all too easy in the present tense situation to say the Lahore process was a farce. The rhetoric was overblown and probably clouded judgment in some government quarters. But theessential fact remains that it is in India8217;s interest to try and talk sense into the Pakistani leadership even as India continues with the military action it has been compelled to take.