In the wake of the Uri attack from across the border, which left 18 Indian soldiers dead, CPR faculty comment on ways in which India could respond, compiled below:
- G Parthasarathy writes that isolating Pakistan in South Asia should be India’s major priority, and that India, Afghanistan and Bangladesh could even consider boycotting the next SAARC summit in Islamabad. He advises a calibrated military response by India, ‘while making it clear to Pakistan that any escalation would only cause it more harm’
- In The Uri Challenge, Pratap Bhanu Mehta analyses the options for India’s response, taking into account the complex nature of the state of Pakistan.
- Shyam Saran is quoted in the article Response to Uri, where he advocates that India should be more active internationally to exploit Pakistan’s negative image as the ‘epicentre of terror’, especially given that India has several legitimate pressure points.
- In another article, Securing India’s Borders, Shyam Saran writes on the necessity for India to address her own vulnerabilities in managing her borders, advocating the need for a national security strategy, and suggesting steps towards achieving it.
- In India must impose measured costs on terror exporters, Brahma Chellaney writes that the Uri attack is a defining moment for Modi. He states that India needs to overhaul its strategy, adopting a comprehensive, pro-active approach towards Pakistan, and choose from ‘a spectrum of unconventional options that no nation will discuss in public’. In a subsequent article, he suggests jettisoning the 1960 Indus Water Treaty to ‘mend Pakistan’s behaviour’.
- Sanjaya Baru writes that the only long-term, realistic solution to the Kashmir problem is the Musharraf-Manmohan formula, and it needs to be revisited.
- In a debate on NDTV (above), G Parthasarathy comments that while ‘retribution’ was justified, it was necessary to proceed with good sense, and the time had come to increase diplomatic pressure on Pakistan, especially in SAARC.
- In an interview with LiveMint, Srinath Raghavan discusses the need to improve India’s security systems to deter Pakistan sponsored terror.
