The cancellation of a meeting at the UNGA in New York between the foreign ministers of Pakistan and India has been swiftly followed by escalating rhetoric.

Yet, amidst the flurry of unfortunate and undesirable statements, the comments by Indian army chief Gen Bipin Rawat stand out for their recklessness and menace. First, lashing out at Pakistan for violence in India-held Kashmir, the Indian army chief appears to have threatened what would amount to war crimes against Pakistan security personnel.

The growing belligerence of the Indian army in matters of national security and foreign policy has been noted with concern in recent years by independent regional analysts, and Gen Rawat’s outrageous threats underline why India should carefully consider the long-term repercussions of injecting bellicose military rhetoric into the fraught Pakistan-India relationship.

Before the cross-border dust could settle following his first comments, Gen Rawat has suggested in fresh comments to the media yesterday that India may consider another so-called ‘surgical strike’ across the Line of Control in the disputed Kashmir region. The army chief’s comments have come in the run-up to the rather bizarre spectacle that India is planning this week: a so-called ‘Surgical Strike Day’ to commemorate the second anniversary of an ‘attack’ that Pakistan denies took place.

If the Indian military leadership’s aggressive rhetoric is of concern, the BJP government’s determination to turn the Indian public against Pakistan should worry all right-thinking and sensible citizens of the two countries. The celebrations planned this week by the Indian government appear to be part of an effort to weaponise the Indian public against Pakistan, which will almost certainly reduce the space for dialogue towards normalisation of ties and eventual peace. Until now, even in periods of intense tensions at the level of the state, the people of the two countries have had sizeable contingents of peace.

For its part, Pakistan has thus far rightly avoided being provoked by bellicose rhetoric from across the border. Military spokesperson, Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, while warning India against any misadventure, has underlined that war is not a solution. The information minister, Fawad Chaudhry, has suggested that Pakistan is still willing to consider opening the Kartarpur corridor to a revered Sikh holy site in Narowal district.

Prime Minister Khan should have chosen less intemperate words in his response on Twitter to India’s cancelling the foreign minister-level meeting, but that can eventually be attributed to personal disappointment and inexperience in office. Pakistan must not follow India down the path of inflammatory rhetoric.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2018