On taking back POK

Tweets and posts in social media and news reports claim that India will take back Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) using military force. In effect, they call for military action against Pakistan.

India has consistently held that Pakistan is in illegal occupation of POK, which belongs to India. Parliament unanimously adopted a resolution on February 22, 1994, emphasizing that Jammu-Kashmir was an integral part of India, and that Pakistan must vacate the parts of the state under its occupation. The phrase “parts of the state under its occupation” refers to POK, and use of the word “vacate” is in keeping with India’s policy of peaceful bilateral discussions.

Always directly or indirectly under its own military, Pakistan has taken advantage of India’s approach in bilateral affairs. Mistaking political maturity for weakness, Pakistan has attacked India militarily, but the Indian military, always at the ready, have repeatedly punished Pakistan.

During the 1999 Kargil War, while ordering the Indian Army to flush out the Pakistani forces which had encroached into India, the government issued instructions to not cross the LoC. The Indian military carried out the orders successfully and with characteristic élan.

Replying to a Rajya Sabha question on March 21, 2018, regarding “measures taken to liberate POK from Pakistan”, the then Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj G Ahir, stated: “The Government of India’s principled and consistent position on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir [includes that] India is committed under the Simla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration to resolve all issues with Pakistan peacefully through bilateral discussions”.

Answering a Lok Sabha question of December 12, 2018, regarding “illegally occupied areas”, then External Affairs Minister, the late Sushma Swaraj, stated: “India’s consistent and principled position, as also enunciated in the 1994 Parliament Resolution adopted unanimously, is that the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir has been, is, and shall be an integral part of India .... We have repeatedly and consistently called upon Pakistan to immediately vacate all areas under its illegal occupation, most recently on November 30, 2018.”

These statements indicate India’s continuing public commitment to the 1994 Parliament Resolution.

News reports

A news report of October 27, 2022 is titled “Defence Minister Rajnath Singh hints at retrieving POK under parliament resolution”. In it, the Defence Minister is quoted as having said: “Our country is committed to implementing the resolution passed in the Parliament about retrieving Kashmir under illegal occupation of Pakistan.”

A seasoned politician like Rajnath Singh would be aware of the details of the 1994 Resolution, which declares: “Pakistan must vacate the areas of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, which they have occupied through aggression”. He would not have said that the resolution passed in the Parliament is about retrieving POK. It is a fair guess that the Defence Minister has been misquoted.

A news report of Nov 23, 2022 was titled “Indian Army ready to execute orders on taking back POK, says top general“. The first sentence in the report is “Northern Army Commander Lt General Upendra Dwivedi on Tuesday said the Indian Army is ready to execute orders like taking back Pakistan-occupied Kashmir”.

However, the news report quotes him as having said: “As far as the Indian Army is concerned, it will carry out any order given by the Government of India. Whenever such orders are given, we will always be ready for it.” This is in keeping with the Indian military ethos of always carrying out the orders of the government.

Notwithstanding that Lt Gen Dwivedi did not mention taking back POK, the news report says that he is “ready to execute orders like taking back Pakistan-occupied Kashmir”. Like the title, this is both inaccurate and misleading.

The Defence Minister’s and Army Commander’s statements concern the Parliament Resolution and Army’s readiness to carry out government’s orders. Extant policy is to resolve all issues with Pakistan peacefully through bilateral discussions.The use of “retrieving” and “taking back” are inaccurate embellishments to attract readership. Such inaccuracies encourage social media hawks, help Pakistan accuse India of aggressive intentions, and send out wrong messages.

The news reports discussed above are examples that inaccurately suggest that India will reverse extant policy and resort to military action to retrieve POK. Notwithstanding, a brief discussion of militarily taking back POK is pertinent.

Realism of retrieving POK

Pakistan has no doubt about India’s conventional fighting force being superior to its own. If the Indian military attacks POK, Pakistan will surely open fronts on other parts of International Border (IB) and LoC, and also draw China into the conflict to open additional fronts on our Himalayan borders and to make disabling cyberattacks. This will be militarily and economically draining for India. Besides, in desperation, Pakistan may go nuclear. The international community, already engaged with Russia’s attack on Ukraine, will view India as the aggressor, with negative outcomes for India.

Even if India captures POK by a lightning military operation, holding the region against Pakistani counterattacks and a hostile population, and holding China at bay, will entail unaffordable military and economic costs, and create critical diplomatic situations. Withdrawing the Indian Army would require India to first install a pro-India civilian administration in POK, a difficult, if not impossible, proposition.

Even if a military initiative to retrieve POK is tactically possible, it is strategically questionable, especially in the ongoing global political-economic flux and uncertainty. India’s claim over POK subsists in terms of the consistent and principled position enunciated in the 1994 Parliament Resolution. Indeed, PM Modi declared to the international community: “This is not the time for war”.

Social media warmongers are unmindful of the human, social and economic consequences of loss of Indian soldiers’ lives and limbs, the lives, livelihoods and properties of our civilian populations in the war zones, the possibility of escalation and widening of armed conflict, and the unaffordable economic cost. They beat the cost-free social media war-drums, while living in comfort and safety, possibly without close relatives serving in the military.

Responsible journalism does not provide opportunity for motivated or ignorant misinterpretation on social media.