Why Pakistan’s ‘rogue actor’ persona is attractive to many countries

medium121020881For Indians waking up to ‘Operation Sindoor’ on May 7, there was no greater satisfaction than watching visuals of India hitting Lashkar-e-Taiba headquarters in Muridke or Jaish-e-Mohammed’s ‘capital’ in Bahawalpur. ‘Can’t we hit Muridke?’ used to be on top of India’s wishlist. And it just did. That’s the only message the world should internalise today.India has travelled a long way — from putting Maulana Masood Azhar on a flight from a Kashmir prison to Kandahar in Afghanistan on December 31, 1999, to obliterating his terror factory in Bahawalpur in 2025. It has been a painful journey, losing too many lives along the way. With Balakot and now the latest airstrikes, India has demonstrated capability for deep strikes inside the heart of Pakistan, as well as the resilience to pay the cost needed.Most importantly, it has demonstrated political will — to challenge Pakistan’s calculations on its ‘operating threshold’ — between conventional and nuclear.Terrorism is a low-cost proxy war that’s literally a key aspect of Pakistan’s defence strategy. India has significantly raised costs of that strategy. Interestingly, across Pakistan’s western border, Rawalpindi’s former partners, Taliban, are also raising costs for Pakistan, although for different reasons. When needed, Iranians have also been known to strike inside Pakistan.Pakistan does not do introspection. That’s for others to do. So, we are not likely to see significant material change in its strategy towards India. Pakistan also has almost no external incentive to change strategy, or national trajectory either. For starters, it believes its nuclear arsenal is a big cushion against any pressure. medium nocaptionhttp://youtu.be/_7a8WC-gbpA?si=qSBkobftwgwuI4uGPakistan has spent decades perfecting its ‘Après moi, le déluge’ policy. Every successive army chief plumbs new depths, but the world is persuaded that he must be supported somehow to keep the nation from going under. During the current conflict, too, India is often depicted as the risk-happy one, striking ‘terror camps’ inside Pakistan, while Pakistan’s claim of downing Indian aircraft is treated as disinformation-free and ‘proof’ that Chinese tech is better than French tech.So, let’s not kid ourselves, the world has a lot of space for Pakistan-sponsored terror against India. There is virtually no outrage against the fact that such large terror camps actually exist there. Or, that senior army officers are attending funerals of terrorists whose bodies are wrapped in the national flag.China will continue to keep Pakistan supplied with military equipment and tech, which are, admittedly, getting better by the day. It’s a low-cost option for keeping India in check. These are old calculations. The point is, nothing has changed. The US, even under Donald Trump, is ‘friendly’. Russia would happily play with Pakistan the day India matters less to the Kremlin. We, in India, often find this difficult to digest. But Pakistan’s ‘rogue actor’ persona is strangely attractive and useful to many parts of the world.Which leaves India. Its larger objective should be the systematic degrading of Pakistan, while keeping itself above sectarianism and religious bigotry that is so much a part of Pakistan’s personality and is only amplified by mirroring. (It gladdened Indian hearts to see Col Sofiya Qureshi and Wg Cdr Vyomika Singh as the public face of the armed forces in the GoI press conference on May 7.)India will never be able to do what Israel is doing in Gaza — nor would it want to do it. But we’re already seeing a strategy that has taken shape in India:* Terrorism equals military aggression, and will be responded in the same manner. On May 8, India reportedly took out Pakistan’s air defence systems after Pakistan attacked several civilian and military centres overnight. Which means ‘Op Sindoor’ remains an ongoing campaign. medium nocaptionhttp://youtu.be/GODW3kHFvYo?si=IV17c9uX0h3GleoM* India is learning from mistakes of its past. Defence procurements are more coherent, and with more definite battle plans in mind. Joint action of the three services in the current conflict is a welcome sign that more integrated defence forces are being organically grown. While keeping global diplomacy in play, India is scaling up intelligence gathering from inside Pakistan. Covert action — of all shades — is now within the realm of possibility.* India has reaped enormous benefits by opening up its space sector to private companies. It is beginning to do the same in bringing in AI to surveillance systems and border control. Tech that is affordable and replaceable — remember the Line of Control gets swamped by snow every winter — will soon become a part of our defence strategies.It’s time for India to tap into the tremendous well of innovation and tech development happening inside the country for defence and national security purposes. Defence innovation is the only way India will stay ahead of Pakistan. The future of warfare is here, and we can shape it to India’s unique security environment.* India must retain control of the Indus waters entering Pakistan. Rawalpindi needs to understand that its terror adventurism comes with costs, and India is now ready to impose those costs.Bottomline: To keep India’s growth trajectory upward, New Delhi will be stepping out of the shadows to build its security and defence. The policy is not without its risks. But as security drills sweep across the country, we know it’s worth it.The writer is CEO, Ananta CentreTOI+ complete coverage of Operation Sindoor here