The 'Common Enemy' Strategy and Neighbourly Integration

India and Pakistan are shrouded in the fog of war, which is peopled by phantoms.

- PRATIK KANJILAL

India and Pakistan are shrouded in the fog of war, which is peopled by phantoms. The 1971 India-Pakistan war, which created Bangladesh, changed the map of South Asia. Three years later, India tested a nuclear bomb, upsetting the world order. Those were exciting times, but many people who bore witness developed a healthy aversion to war, until all other possibilities were exhausted.

Now, the Indian people are exhausted after decades of terrorism. Public grief and disgust at the killings in Pahalgam have made revenge drama inevitable. The nuclear-armed neighbours are now on a familiar spiral of incremental brinkmanship, and the fog shows no signs of lifting. However, a little reality is visible amidst the phantoms of unverified claims and counter-claims.

First, we can see that India and Pakistan are so polarised that it takes an external threat to unite their political parties. This means their politicians are no longer conversant with the civilised art of reaching across the aisle. It was definitely a feature of Indian politics earlier.

Second, India has always excluded foreign brokers and insisted on bilateral talks on Kashmir. However, the scale of the present conflict is inviting intervention. The UK, which has concluded a trade deal with India, says it can help. US President Donald Trump has also offered his services. An international chorus is telling both countries to ground the missiles.