The world witnessed that two nuclear powers face face to face in a kinetic exchange that covered several days. Multiple cities were attacked, attacked in military facilities and dozens of civil and military deaths were reported. Some of the most lethal and advanced destruction weapons were in action on both sides.
Global leaders and institutions sounded alarms, and finally, a faint peace was achieved for the moment. However, India is called a mere pause and says that the Sindoor operation is still underway. This is the closest that the world has reached a nuclear war in decades. This should simply be unacceptable to the world. We have clearly uploaded the climbing staircase in this conflict, and this normality cannot be allowed.
It cannot be allowed that nationalist Jingoism, religious fanaticism, political opportunism and discarded egos of reality cannot put the world at risk of a nuclear armedon. We cannot allow this Russian roulette game to be played repeatedly with the hope that regional and global players intervene and give a saving of the face to allow the suspension of hostilities or that any of the countries involved is willing to have unbearable pain and losses and not resort to a nuclear option.
This means that the underlying reasons for the conflict between the two countries must be addressed instead of surviving the current conflict and expecting the next activation point to result in another round of hostilities, perhaps even more deadly.
The explosive nature of the underlying combustible material can be measured by the speed of the escalation of this crisis. On April 22, an incident terrorist horror takes place in Pahalgam, resulting in the death of more than two dozen innocent people. In an hour, India blames Pakistan, even identifying the guilty assumptions and statements that seek revenge. In a matter of days, the non -kinetic escalation begins with India announcing the suspension of the swing of the Indo waters, closing the Kartarpur corridor, both parties closing the Wagah border, stopping all the trade and expelling many diplomats from each country.
Pakistan prohibits Indian airlines from flying on Pakistani airspace. In just two weeks, kinetic action begins, with India attacking not only the control line but also the international limit. Pakistan retaliates immediately, and the loss of Indian assets and the objectives hit in Pakistan are reported worldwide. On the fourth day, the escalation reached a level not seen since the 1971 war and it is certainly not seen since the two countries achieved nuclear capacity.
As scary as the speed of this escalation between the two nuclear neighbors was for the world, the concept of the nuclear climbing staircase warns that the perspectives of the next few days, if the conflict was allowed to continue, they could have been much more serious. Basically, the concept establishes that as two adversaries rise through the climbing staircase, the speed at which the next steps of the stairs are reached. This also has common sense.
With each step up on the climb, the damage caused to the target country is greater. Therefore, with increasing consequences for each climb, the potential cost of being late in the response or being advanced by the adversary increases. This creates a situation in which, to use common language, decision makers can become trigger, willing to run the risk of being too early instead of risking too late.
It is good to see that the DGMO conversations have taken place, and another round is expected to soon. However, we have to go far beyond that. A comprehensive dialogue should be initiated, and all important problems for both parties must be discussed. Specifically, the issue of terrorism must be addressed, which became the activation point for the current conflict round.
India has its own perception and complaints about the issue of terrorism compatible with cross -border terrorism. So Pakistan does, which has been one of the greatest victims of terrorism in the 21st century. Last year, the second highest number of terrorism incidents in the world was recorded in Pakistan. In any case, this year, the rhythm of these terrorist attacks is even higher. It is absolutely vital for peace that these incidents on both sides are fully examined, preferably by neutral third party inspectors. Terrorism as an instrument of state policy cannot have any place in today’s world, and certainly not in a very militarized nuclear region.
This process is obviously long in which both countries must make some great decisions to create a lasting peace. Meanwhile, the current status quo of deep mutual suspicion, where high barriers have been established to stop almost the entire interface between the two countries, provides incendiary material for erroneous perception and the creation of another inflammation point. All locked trade, all the movements of people through the borders stopped, the media and social networks of the other country blocked the diplomatic presence to the minimum, etc., these are conditions that lead to nerve minds and fingers with itching.
Winning a war or conflict results in patriotic fervor and feeds national pride. The winning peace feels the basis to improve the life of the people of the nation during generations. For the sake of more than 1.5 billion people from Pakistan and India, let the leadership of both countries meet and win peace.
Discharge of responsibility: The views expressed in this piece are that of writer and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of PakGazette.TV.
The writer is a retired corporate CEO and former Federal Minister.
Originally published in the news
