South Asian target: Let's strive for a durable ceasefire in India-Pakistan

Copyright © HT Digital Streams Limit all rights reserved. Mint Redaction 2 Min Read May 12, 2025, 07:30 AM. There may be some lessons for India in the past week’s Intimations of War. (AFP) Summary The termination of armed hostilities kept turbulent and remains fragile. Now India must utilize its economic fitness for a global geopolitical bargain to enforce peace after sin in South Asia. Relationships can be intrinsically fragile, especially with neighbors suffering from an inferiority complex. The ceasefire announced between India and Pakistan on Saturday was immediately violated, proving the brittle nature of the ties between the two countries divided by thick bloodlines into sand and snow. Pakistan’s appetite for continuing violence and bloodshed has diminished over the past few years, only to rise again with the appointment of a new army whose words indicate that he considers quarrel with India as a religious struggle. India’s measured response to the Pahalgam blood bath, which claimed 26 innocent lives, by targeting terror infrastructure over the control line, made some of the old red lines irrelevant. Also read: Nitin Pai: Operation Sindoor sets a new normal for India’s strategy. It also shows the decision of New -Delhi to redefine South Asia’s Sophomoric geopolitical grammar by replacing passivity with decisive but limited actions. As expected in war matches, Pakistan predictably had retaliation again as he stoked his anti-Indian rhetoric at home to keep the army head in his position safely. The termination of active hostilities was ugly, but will count as mutually insured rationality if it endures. However, given the inherent instability of mutual relationships, there is no saying when violated again. There are perhaps some lessons for India in the past week’s Intimations of War. The first is on the role of various third parties that placed themselves in the bilateral equation. Consider the inconsistent narratives on how the ceasefire arose. On the one hand, Pakistan apparently invited the mediation. On the other hand, India has determined that the strike stems from communications at ground level and an exchange of information between the director general of military operations on both sides. It betrays the desire of Pakistan to refocus the world’s attention to its imagined geopolitical meaning, a sign of superpowers that it has put the embarrassment of Abbotabad behind it and is open to business again. Also read: Mint Quick Edit | Post-Indoor: Another wake-up call for Pakistan-Western states has in the past used Pakistan as a willing laundry block for dark ops, which ensures a source of sauce for the elite of Pakistan and some benefits to the economy. New -Delhi must strengthen his position to hold the relationships bilateral to stimize Islamabad’s efforts to acquire geopolitical muscles in the region. There are also economic lessons. To a large extent, the irrelevance of Pakistan has been the result of India’s rapid GDP growth since the early 1990s, with every misrepresentation by trigger-happy generals in Rawalpindi that is much more harmed. Last year, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had to enter into a Faustian agreement with China, expanding safety promises in exchange for extensive adults and forgiveness of guilt. Nevertheless, India’s commercial involvement in China is more valuable, with Beijing taking a large market into account for its exports. Unfortunately, the clashes of the border have closed this leverage. Also read: Pakistan needs to wake up and smell the geo-economic brew on the other side of the world, the US is also looking for markets to sell its goods and services. India’s attitude of strategic autonomy can be beneficial here, as both China and the US can be involved as economic partners in exchange for the recognition of New -Delhi as the stabilizing power of South Asia. Part of such a large bargain can strive to deprive the Pakistani army of their outdoor stology and restore the election democracy in Pakistan. It can give a ceasefire the durability it needs. Catch all the business news, market news, news reports and latest news updates on Live Mint. Download the Mint News app to get daily market updates. More Topics #Operation Sindoor #indian Economy #islamist Militants Mint Special