US Wants De-Escalation, India Wants Accountability

On Thursday morning the Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar said he had discussed the Pahalgam terrorist attack with the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. In a post on X, he said that, “Discussed the Pahalgam terrorist attack with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio yesterday. Its perpetrators, backers and planners must be brought to justice.”

The US readout of the discussion said that, “The Secretary expressed his sorrow for the lives lost in the horrific terrorist attack in Pahalgam, and reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to cooperation with India against terrorism.  He also encouraged India to work with Pakistan to de-escalate tensions and maintain peace and security in South Asia.”

The same day, Rubio had also spoken to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The readout of that conversation stated that, “Today, Secretary Marco Rubio spoke with Prime Minister of Pakistan Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif. The Secretary spoke of the need to condemn the terror attack on April 22 in Pahalgam. Both leaders reaffirmed their continued commitment to holding terrorists accountable for their heinous acts of violence.

“The Secretary urged Pakistani officials’ cooperation in investigating this unconscionable attack. He also encouraged Pakistan to work with India to de-escalate tensions, re-establish direct communications, and maintain peace and security in South Asia.”

It is interesting to note the differences in emphasis and tone between the two readouts. This reflects the standard international playbook whenever a crisis breaks out in “South Asia” due to attacks by terrorists who operate from Pakistan and find sanctuary there.

The Western emphasis—always—is to attempt that a crisis of this kind does not come to a situation where India and Pakistan exchange blows. To be sure, these statements criticise the terrorist attacks but when it comes to accountability, Pakistan gets off the hook. That is, always, fatal to peace in the Subcontinent as Pakistan returns to its ways within months or, at best, some more time.

It was only after India responded by armed force in the wake of the Uri and Pulwama attacks, in 2016 and 2019, respectively, that Pakistan held back terrorism, for some time. The Pahalgam terrorist attack shows it is back to its old ways.

India—the country that has suffered the most from Pakistani terrorism—knows that better than any other country. That is one reason why Jaishankar’s post clearly spelled that, Its (the terrorist attack) backers and planners must be brought to justice.”

The danger is that in the coming days this message will be “lost in translation” unless India chooses to exercise the options available to it, including an armed response to Pakistan’s actions. As the days pass by, the pressure on India not to take any steps against Pakistan will increase further. The risk of not deterring Pakistan will prove dangerous for India in the time to come. One can be sure that soon enough Rawalpindi will dispatch more terrorists and then, one day, it will says whatever is happening in India is because the “Kashmir dispute” remains unresolved.

The world, and Western countries in Particular, don’t understand the basic reality of the Subcontinent: Deterring Pakistan is not a one-shot game; Pakistan has to be given a knock every now and then to maintain peace.

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