The Blame Game

[Solomon2]

The Blame Game

September 16, 2013: Pakistani politicians have been backing the media campaign by their generals to pin the blame on India for the growing number of border incidents (Pakistani troops firing on Indians) along the LoC (Line of Control which separates Indian and Pakistani held Kashmir). India has responded with senior political leaders denouncing these accusations as lies and reminding Pakistan that Indian restraint cannot be taken for granted.

Pakistani troops have violated the 2003 ceasefire regularly all this year and Pakistani generals have become more vocal with their claims that this violence is all the fault of the Indians. India sees this as all about Pakistani generals seeking to increase military and diplomatic tension with India to justify all the economic and political privileges of the Pakistani military has gained over the last 60 years and to discourage Pakistani politicians who are seeking to prosecute serving and retired officers for past crimes.

This time around the Pakistani politicians have again backed down in the face of army threats of another coup. This refusal to deal with the LoC problem, despite the growing evidence that Pakistan soldiers have been instigating these attacks is causing major diplomatic issues with India, which is dismayed at this lack of backbone by elected Pakistani officials and the tension is coming closer to triggering an escalation to another war. Pakistani has lost all its previous wars with India, all of them instigated by Pakistan. The Pakistani generals believe that, since Pakistan got nukes in 1999, it can torment the Indians with these unprovoked border attacks without fear of escalating retaliation turning into a major war.

By Indian count Pakistan has violated the border twice as often in 2013 as last year. Since 2009, when Pakistan began regularly breaking the 2003 ceasefire, India has counted over 250 ceasefire violations. In the last three years 26 Indian soldiers have died in these attacks, nine this year and five of them in one attack on August 6th. Indian public opinion is increasingly hostile towards Pakistan and demanding something be done. These border violations are a continuing impediment to negotiating a peace treaty with India, something many Indians and Pakistanis want, but that the Pakistani military very much opposes.

The Pakistani government is still trying to get the Pakistani Taliban to undertake peace talks...