WASHINGTON: Indian Prime Minister Shastri has warned that India would “strike back at Pakistan” if Pakistani “aggression” continued in Kashmir. In an interview to the “New York Times” in New Delhi he has openly hinted at a general war with Pakistan. Mr Shastri said, “We will have to carry the fight to the other side.” He believed that India and Pakistan were closer to war now than at any time since the partition.

Mr Shastri’s sabre-rattling interview was given prominent display by the “New York Times” yesterday [Aug 22]. In another report the “New York Times” correspondent in India said that the Indian Army “is said to be aching for a chance to show what it can do. In the Cabinet there is said to be support for giving the soldiers a free rein”. The “Times” reported, however, that “India’s economy is lagging badly and the foreign exchange shortage is acute”. Indian officials realised that war would mean virtually shelving the country’s development programme for the duration.

While Indian jingoists threaten Pakistan of an all-out war her inability to feed her own population is pathetically summed up in this banner headline in the “Washington Post” — “India trembling near brink of famine”.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2015

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