Strange that Pakistan wants talks because India has been talking, just that the language has changed a bit

Pakistan has been saying from all public platforms that it wants talks with India in order to defuse the tensions escalating between the two neighbours. It wants third party, or multiple party, meditation to help it achieve its goals, which is to get off the hook. The right, left and the centre hook that random flailing of arms by India is raining on it. Pakistan is mortally afraid to be made a punching bag by the giant which it has been needling all these years. Its political class as also its people and so-called civil societies on both sides of the divide are proving to be its most valuable assets. This is a 360° turn, from talking to India through its terrorism machinery to pleading in a civil manner. All this is fake optics meant to dissolve the Indian resolve to break the bones of terrorists. Talks have always been on between the two nations and the mode of communication was terrorist proxies controlled by Pakistan. These talks are at least a decade old dating back to the 26 November, 2008 Mumbai attacks. Pakistan talked in terms of killing over 166 people in 2008, and India responded by setting up the NIA (National Investigation Agency)! To laugh or cry is a choice we all have but that is the most serious thing done by India since the 26/11 attacks. [caption id=“attachment_6172821” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Cut to the Uri attack of 2016. This was a message from Pakistan regarding its destructive capabilities. There was communication from India by way of retaliatory surgical strikes. It did talk back. However, Pakistan said there was no response from India, entirely refuting this two-way communication. Onto the Pulwama attack on 14 February in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed. Indian Mirage jets answered by bombing Balakot. Again, this was a communication from India that Pakistan refuses to acknowledge. Analyse its claims that other than some trees, nothing much was hurt. This claim and any truthful account regarding the extent of damage suffered by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) has been stubbornly kept under wraps by Pakistan. This serves to anger India further as these bombardments were carried out to damage JeM. Pakistan claims it has suffered no damage and needs to be put firmly on the escalatory ladder of hostilities. It should not be allowed to step back into its cocoon of comfort and allowed to act as a hatchery of terrorism. If its hatchlings are its prime priority, the whole hatchery needs to be targeted. What was Pakistan’s response to Balakot? Intruding aerially into the Nowshera area and dropping bombs. This was its message and effort to send a message to India. There was a perfect response from India with a MiG-21 Bison worth $2 million shooting down an F-16 worth $18 million. Unfortunately, a Pakistani pilot was killed in most tragic circumstances after surviving a hit from bison! He was lynched by his countrymen. Why? As a rogue nation, Pakistan cannot admit openly that it used F-16s given by the US for carrying out attacks on Indian territory. It is a miserable failure of its calculations that its use of F-16s for attacks will be exposed in the very first attempt. The wrong end of the stick from the US will surely be reserved for a future date and time. Pakistan’s conduct will shape its future ties with the US and it is difficult to foresee the Americans doing nothing about it. They will factor in its behaviour in the manner of a thug. The end user agreement of F-16s, to defend itself against possible attacks, has been violated by using them for aggression against the Indian military target of Naushera Brigade. With the downing of the F-16, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman has virtually made all of Pakistan’s squadrons of F-16s a useless asset! Assets that can be deployed only within the boundaries of the Pakistani nation to defend itself. Any aggressive intent or use of these fighter aircraft will possibly bring a swift response from the US. Losing one F-16 has psychologically crippled the Pakistani Air Force (PAF). It is faced with a situation where its best aerial asset is reduced to a useless showpiece. These aircraft cannot enter the Indian airspace as things stand now under the agreement for their supply. They will be seriously violating the agreement with the Americans. This two-way dialogue has been continuing and talks have been on between the adversaries. Pakistani denial of this dialogue is a pack of lies and worth sheer contempt. Nothing else. Pakistan’s choice of language had been robust Punjabi all this while, with Muridke and Bahawalpur dictating the discourse, as Chief of Army Staff Qamar Javed Bajwa’s proxies. We had chosen to speak a soft language earlier and opted for speaking French (Mirage 2000s) and Russian (MiG-21s) in Balakot and elsewhere. Israeli Hebrew via Hebron drones, Spice (missile), American English (via Surveillance aircraft), Russian (via IL 76 Refueller) etc are languages we are speaking now. This multi-language discourse delivery is the reason for Pakistani discomfort. There is no reason for us to break down the dialogue, even if it is likely to turn into a monologue from us soon. Talks were always on and they must continue, unabated. The author is a veteran journalist from Jammu and Kashmir