Crossing the Line of Control - The Hindu Editorial with vocab - September 30, 2016
After
running through a variety of non-military responses to the September 18
terrorist strike at an Army camp in Uri, the Centre on Thursday announced that
Indian forces had carried out “surgical
strikes” across the Line of Control. With this, India’s next steps,
post-Uri, are in uncharted terrain, with New Delhi abandoning the
self-proclaimed policy of “strategic restraint”
adopted in the face of earlier provocations by terrorists believed to be backed
by Pakistan. The operation, that began and concluded in the early hours of
Thursday, was claimed to be a military success, with no injuries to the Indian
para-commandos who went across the LoC into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to attack
several locations. The decision to strike in this manner was evidently taken
after specific intelligence that terrorist groups were planning attacks in
India. This may not be the first time India has undertaken quick cross-LoC
operations, but it has never before chosen to share information so publicly.
The
terms “surgical strike” and “pre-emptive strike” used by the Centre were
intended to convey that this was not an attack on Pakistan’s defence forces,
but a targeted action against terrorists poised
to wreak damage in India. Pakistan
of course has played down the Indian operation, characterising it as an act of
habitual cross-border shelling. It is welcome that New Delhi declared the
strikes complete shortly after the operation, with the DGMO calling his
Pakistani counterpart to convey that India would not escalate the conflict beyond this. This, along with the briefings
held in New Delhi for envoys of various countries, indicates that the Centre
wants to end hostilities with Pakistan for the moment. This strengthens the
view that the operation was the result of pressure on the Modi government to
manufacture a strong response to Uri. Over the past few days there has been a
cascade of moves to underline that such provocations cannot be followed with
business as usual. The government reviewed the working of the Indus Waters
Treaty, declared it is flirting with the idea of reviewing Pakistan’s Most
Favoured Nation status, and pulled out
of the SAARC heads’ meet to be held in Islamabad. Having made it known that
India does not want further escalation, even as people living along the International
Border and the LoC are shifted to safer locations, the Centre will need to
articulate what it regards as the new normal — and indeed, how it hopes, or
plans, to dissuade Pakistan from
escalating the situation in turn.
Surgical ˈ strike noun
- a type of military attack that is made in an exact
way on a particular place
Restraint / / noun- calm and controlled behavior
poised / / adjective - showing very calm and
controlled behavior
wreak / / verb - to cause something to happen in a
violent and often uncontrolled way
escalate / verb - to become or make something become
greater or more serious
pull (sb/sth) out (ACTIVITY)
— phrasal verb -to stop being involved in an
activity or agreement
dissuade / / verb - to persuade someone not to do
something
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