Opinion Express View on India-Pakistan ceasefire: Message delivered. Now consolidate deterrence

When the cessation of firing was announced by both India and Pakistan Saturday evening, there couldn’t have been a more ringing endorsement of Delhi’s message on terror coming from across the border: India will hit terrorists and terror infrastructure wherever they are; Pakistan’s alibis, indefensible all, have run out. The “new normal” of deterrence — which began with the surgical strikes after the Uri attack and was shored up with the Balakot strike after Pulwama 2019 — has now been re-etched clearly and firmly. Through Operation Sindoor, India has responded to, and countered, every act of escalation by Pakistan. The destruction of Pakistan’s major military assets, including debilitating strikes at over a dozen military bases, from Lahore to Sargodha, Chakwal to Jacobabad, has demonstrated India’s ability to strike with precision, and deep. The larger message is that Rawalpindi’s strategy of hiding behind proxies that perpetrate terrorism on Indian soil will no longer work. India has broadened the tools at its disposal by holding the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance, while laying down that every act of terrorism will now be considered “an act of war” and receive a proportionate response by the military.

Going ahead, there will be challenges. To begin with, the political leadership must lose no time in communicating how and why the needle has moved towards raising the costs for Pakistan’s policy of supporting terror and securing the nation. The gains must also be protected from, among others, arm-chair warriors on both sides of the political-ideological spectrum in the country, who loudly complain about a ceasefire that is “premature”, or one that is seen to be brokered externally. The government cannot afford to be derailed by the apocalypse-chasers or naysayers from addressing the important tasks that still lie ahead. It is important to begin a review of India’s broader defence capabilities. In the aftermath of the Kargil conflict, the Kargil Review Committee (KRC) was formed, and its recommendations — including bolstering intelligence gathering and shoring up inter-services coordination — took the conversation on military reform forward. That was nearly 26 years ago. Since 2014, India has seen at least five military crises — with Pakistan in 2016, 2019 and now, and on the border with China in 2017 and 2020. It is time for another stock-taking exercise. Sound intelligence is the first defence against terror, and the gaps must be filled. Pakistan has a line to China’s modern arsenal, and India must invest more, to maintain and increase its advantage.

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Ever since the events of April 22, the unity across classes, communities and political parties in India has been hearteningly on show. The adversary tried to deepen faultlines — and failed spectacularly. The political Opposition stood behind the government, and was seen to do so too. This unity is India’s strength, and it must be maintained by the political class and society. India’s priorities are to grow its economy, increase Make In India and take its rightful place at the global high table. In days and months to come, Delhi must find new ways of engaging with its neighbour to prevent it from derailing this journey. Armed conflict between India and Pakistan can give an illusion of equivalence and provide space for third parties to step in. At the same time, there is no need to be thin-skinned on social media posts by US President Donald Trump on the road ahead. Delhi’s friends, be they in Washington DC or Moscow, Berlin or Riyadh, surely know that India has a stated position on the conditions for engagement with Pakistan. And that these have been indelibly refreshed and redefined — post the harrowing national tragedy in Pahalgam and after Operation Sindoor.