India’s strategic arc must leave Pakistan behind

Paper: GS – II, Subject: International Relations, Topic: India and its neighborhood, Issue: India-Pakistan relations.

Context:

The Indo-Pacific is the central geopolitical theatre of the Asian century. The global order is fragmenting as the U.S. recalibrates its strategic-focus. Asia must take on more strategic-responsibility, particularly in maintaining peace and countering peripheral disruptors.

Key Highlights:

Reframing the India-Pakistan-China Triangle:

  • India and China should be seen as stabilisers, while Pakistan must not be treated as a geopolitical peer.
  • India’s strategy should focus on engaging Pakistan functionally but not giving it strategic-parity.
  • The focus must shift from a security prism to a broader Indo-Pacific strategic-perspective.

The Pakistan Challenge:

  • Nuclear history: Pakistan is a nuclear state with a history of exporting instability and acting as a proxy for China’s goals.
  • Chinese dependence: It depends on China for military, economic, and diplomatic sustenance.
  • India’s challenge: India must highlight Pakistan’s international role clearly and avoid legitimizing its status through rhetorical excess.
  • Strategic-disengagement: Strategic-engagement should be minimal, transactional, and devoid of emotional overtones.

China as the Principal Strategic-Rival:

  • China is the true peer rival for India; while Pakistan is the manageable risk.
  • The China-Pakistan axis is transactional—China uses Pakistan asymmetrically against India.
  • India must decouple this relationship and treat it as a challenge to regional autonomy.

Strategic-Objectives for India:

  • Avoid dual front scenario: Avoid fighting both adversaries (China and Pakistan) simultaneously.
  • Strategic-investments: Invest in flexible deterrence, infrastructure, maritime partnerships, and multi-domain preparedness.
  • Recasting the Regional Narrative: India must present itself as:
  • A leader of institutions
  • A defender of multilateralism
  • A responsible Indo-Pacific stakeholder
  • Stability and balance: The regional narrative must shift from opposition-based geopolitics to a vision of balance and stability.
  • Rejecting the Pakistan Prism: The India-China relationship must not be seen through the Pakistan prism. Pakistan is not a strategic-pole but a security concern. China’s involvement in Pakistan (e.g., CPEC) is more neocolonial than strategic.
  • Architect of the Strategic-Arc: India should invest in alternative strategic-trilaterals (e.g., with France-UAE, US-Japan, Australia-Indonesia).

Conclusion:

True strategic-maturity lies in measured silence, not in constant confrontation. India’s focus should be on shaping the strategic-order, not reacting to Pakistan.

https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/indias-strategic-arc-must-leave-pakistan-behind/article69649193.ece

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