Ditching India's lies

Tell truth and shame the devil. This is exactly what the United States, despite its recent warm-up for India, has done. It has stripped bare Prime Minister Narendra Modi's so-called military victory over Pakistan in the recent standoff. The electoral-candidate Modi wanted it dearly. If economic agenda was his lollypop in the run-up to India's 2014 general election the anti-Pakistan jingoism is his weapon of choice now. He manufactured the Pulwama drama to justify a surgical strike at the non-existing Jaish-e-Mohammad training camp near Balakot. The camp was "decimated" and "some 350 militants killed". And before being struck in dogfight Indian pilot Abinandan 'shot down' an F-16 of the Pakistan Air Force. Wasn't it a huge victory for Narendra Modi and his commanders? But it was not; all of it was a canard crudely fabricated by the civil-military leadership to cover-up the electoral-candidate's failed attempt at winning the upcoming election cashing in on BJP's anti-Pakistan jingoism.
As to what counted for Indian 'victory' the New Delhi establishment made two claims. One, the 'training camp' of Jaish-e-Mohammad at Balakot was completely destroyed and '350 militants killed', two, before being hit by a PAF aircraft the Indian fighter pilot Abinandan had shot down an F-16. Indian establishment also took up with the United States the issue of end-use of F-16. But truth about the entire saga hasn't taken long to emerge. Taking notice of fake posts about this 'surgical strike', the New York Times says "the photograph of dead bodies wrapped in white, supposedly of Pakistani militants killed in attack, actually depicted victims of a 2015 heatwave". The ground reality is that the JeM camp India claimed to have decimated was not there; these were a few trees that Indian aircraft attacked and destroyed. That was verified by the international media which visited the site within a week of the attack. And as for the F-16 it was not even there. India persisted in sticking to its false claim having downed it. But how long - the highly regarded Foreign Policy magazine has contradicted India's claim of shooting down the F-16. Quoting US officials the publication said Pakistan lost no F-16s as all it has been found safe on ground. To India's diplomatic embarrassment, according to a US official, the F-16s supply agreement doesn't involve any terms limiting this aircraft. And no less interestingly, it was India's own missile which shot down its helicopter during the standoff killing six including five IAF personnel.
In sum total, Narendra Modi lost this scuffle to Pakistan. But has he learnt any lesson from it? So far there is no 'yes' to it. He should have known that the fire he was going to ignite could trigger a massive firestorm engulfing not only the region but the world much beyond. The country he attacked is a nuclear power. If Indian generals ever tried waging 'Limited War' or 'Cold Start' against Pakistan, it would be responded with full force and all along the spectrum. Both are nuclear powers, but one would be profoundly naive to think that it is fear of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) that will stop them short of an Armageddon. If there is going to be a nuclear holocaust the Modi-engineered standoff was the closest call. Perhaps, we in South Asia don't have the kind of political leadership the then USSR and the United States had as they moved towards the Bay of Pigs and stopped short of nuclear clash. Howsoever demanding may be his electoral exigencies the Indian prime minister should not have played with fire. Befooling one's electorate is one thing, but igniting nuclear fire another - and far more critical to one's and others' physical presence on Earth.