Terror crosses borders, so must consequences

The need is to consolidate an economic, strategic, and geopolitical offensive against Pakistan and break the back of its sponsorship of terror

- Akash Kumar Singh

In the orchestra of global affairs, silence is complicity. John F Kennedy famously said, "Geography has made us neighbours. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners and necessity has made us allies. Those whom God has so joined together, let no man put asunder."

India needs to roar to teach a few strong and reverse lessons on geography, history, and economics to its neighbour. When violence, criminality, and bloodshed cross borders, no country can afford to remain a silent spectator. Enough of playing second fiddle to global laziness, it is time to draw the bow and create a symphony of consequences.

Firstly, Pakistan needs to be hit at its most vulnerable nerve—its economic underbelly. The economy is the spinal cord of any terror network, and Pakistan's is no exception. Instruments such as the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP)+ status (European Union giving trade preferences to countries, including Pakistan) and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Grey List (penalising nations promoting terrorism) must be leveraged against Pakistan. Yet, the real rot lies deeper. The UN Drugs and Crime Office (UNODC) has underlined that close to 90% of the raw material for heroin originates from Afghanistan. Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) transports this opium, processes it into heroin, and rakes in blood money—fortunes that are then laundered abroad and funnelled into terror coffers. India must declare an all-out war on this narcotics empire. A coordinated strike—with the Border Security Force, the Indian Navy, Coast Guard and other agencies—should choke the drug routes at sea and land, cutting off the oxygen supply to the ISI's terror tentacles. As is said, "Cut off the head of the snake, and the body will wither."