I can't reconcile these two schizoid elements. Why is there a conflict once Kashmir problem is settled?
The issue of whether there will be conflicts after the LoC becomes the international border, is still up in the air. Nobody can predict precisely what's going to happen. But what one can predict is that it will be a big come-down for India. In the case of Pakistan, the ground has already been prepared for acceptance of the LoC as the border. Post-Kargil, most of the groups in Pakistan will be ready to reconcile with that idea. It is in India that there will be enormous resentment.
Just consider this: Who says that India won't whup pakistan's rump with the same low-intensity conflict?
You don't understand the dynamics of guerrilla warfare. If you did, you wouldn't have asked the question. Well, here's the answer -- a small, relatively less-equipped, ill-fed, even untrained band of guerrillas can keep a well-equipped, well-fed and well-trained army on the defensive, for a long time, even indefinitely. The US got a taste of this in Vietnam, the Soviets in Afghanistan, the Pakistanis in Bangladesh, and the Indian army in Sri Lanka, and now in Kashmir. When the might of the armies have failed to dislodge those guerrillas, how do you think anything less could have? |
