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MAIL TODAY COMMENT: There is no excuse for getting outsmarted by Pakistan | Mail Online
In pure numbers, Indian troops easily outnumber those Pakistan have amassed on the border.
Diplomacy and foreign relations, however, don't always play out as a reflection of the numbers on paper - or even on the ground - and here Pakistan has managed to outclass India at almost every turn.
While Indian leaders were making statements about defusing tension, Pakistan foreign secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani mounted a diplomatic offensive by going straight to US and European envoys to discuss the situation along the Line of Control.
In a direct attack on India's position that border issues can only be solved through bilateral dialogue, Mr Jilani insisted that involving the envoys would help "de-escalate" tensions.
As if that weren't enough, he summoned the Indian High Commissioner to demand a probe into what he claimed were "repeated violations" of the LoC ceasefire by Indian troops and reiterated an offer to have a UN observer group independently examine the situation.
The offer, and the claims of India's 'repeated' violations, are deliberate attempts from Pakistan to turn their own provocation - the killing of two Indian jawans, and the decapitation of one of them - into a position of strength by internationalising the issue.
While this is to be expected, the more troubling situation has been the way India's diplomatic corps have been forced into simply reacting to a series of proactive Pakistani moves.
Foreign minister Salman Khurshid, who has remained busy on his trip to France, insisted that the deaths of the jawans "must be explained."
Meanwhile, foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai advised officials not to respond with "passion."
While the practice of restraint is usually commendable on an explosive border, the foreign office must not allow this to turn into an invitation for the other side to do as they please under a shield of deniability - a situation that has become all too familiar for the Indian public over the last few years.
Talk about the boy who cried wolf once too often, this time it seems the Indians have bitten off more than they can chew.
In pure numbers, Indian troops easily outnumber those Pakistan have amassed on the border.
Diplomacy and foreign relations, however, don't always play out as a reflection of the numbers on paper - or even on the ground - and here Pakistan has managed to outclass India at almost every turn.
While Indian leaders were making statements about defusing tension, Pakistan foreign secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani mounted a diplomatic offensive by going straight to US and European envoys to discuss the situation along the Line of Control.
In a direct attack on India's position that border issues can only be solved through bilateral dialogue, Mr Jilani insisted that involving the envoys would help "de-escalate" tensions.
As if that weren't enough, he summoned the Indian High Commissioner to demand a probe into what he claimed were "repeated violations" of the LoC ceasefire by Indian troops and reiterated an offer to have a UN observer group independently examine the situation.
The offer, and the claims of India's 'repeated' violations, are deliberate attempts from Pakistan to turn their own provocation - the killing of two Indian jawans, and the decapitation of one of them - into a position of strength by internationalising the issue.
While this is to be expected, the more troubling situation has been the way India's diplomatic corps have been forced into simply reacting to a series of proactive Pakistani moves.
Foreign minister Salman Khurshid, who has remained busy on his trip to France, insisted that the deaths of the jawans "must be explained."
Meanwhile, foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai advised officials not to respond with "passion."
While the practice of restraint is usually commendable on an explosive border, the foreign office must not allow this to turn into an invitation for the other side to do as they please under a shield of deniability - a situation that has become all too familiar for the Indian public over the last few years.
Talk about the boy who cried wolf once too often, this time it seems the Indians have bitten off more than they can chew.
