After the creation of Pakistan, there have been three wars between India and Pakistan. I don't have any memory of the first (in 1948), as I was only four at the time and it was confined to the disputed Kashmir state.

The second one (in1965) ended in a stalemate, which made the Indians worry, as they had not been able to defeat a much smaller and weaker foe. They started planning to dismember Pakistan, and succeeded (in 1971).

In the 1971 war (which resulted in the breakup of Pakistan), the country suffered extensive damage. I was right in the middle of it, at the oil storage terminal in Karachi, with many oil tanks burning after the Indians set them on fire. In those hectic times, no one had to count the dead and injured (there must've been many), but after the war, we felt that we had lost a limb and for days most people was under severe depression.

I suppose it was only natural for Pakistan to go nuclear, in order to ensure that the country would survive another war. In the past two days, chances of a nuclear war have increased substantially, with the enemy aircraft crossing over yesterday and trying to bomb Balakot, which is about eighty miles from the Line of Control and within Pakistan. They were in the air for only three minutes (after being challenged by our air force), and while flying back they dropped a payload, so eager were they to get out. Of course, Pakistan had to respond immediately, and they did so this morning, shooting down a couple of Indian aircraft.

So it seems that Modi's gamble did not pay off. He desperately wanted to win the next elections and needed something to make his followers think that he's not impotent. First he got a so-called "terrorist strike" staged in the disputed Kashmir region (killing over forty), then "retaliated" by violating our airspace, claiming (falsely) that his air force had bombed a terrorist camp in Balakot, killing three hundred terrorists. (no one was killed or injured, only a few trees were damaged). Last year, he had staged another drama, the so-called "surgical strike" to win bye-elections. Well, he needed to be put in place after his latest misadventure. 

With the escalation of hostilities, India will be the loser, all its tourists will make a beeline for the airports and the Kashmir dispute has again been internationalized. I hope Muslim-killer Modi learns that his aggressive posture and insane policies will never solve the problem. The only way to solve the Kashmir dispute is for the Indian army to withdraw from the state and let the people decide their own future.

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