"There is anger, alienation and growing radicalisation in the Kashmir valley and we need an empathetic approach towards the population and a clearly defined political objective," former Northern Army Commander Lt. Gen. Hooda who led the 2016 surgical strikes after the Uri terror attack said on Sunday.
“Very often we had a separate political and military strategy towards Kashmir and that is why very often we hear that military has brought the security situation under control in Kashmir but politics has not followed. We need a combined and comprehensive politico-military strategy based on a political objective… I think we have not been able to give a well-crafted narrative to the people in the valley that we care,” Lt. Gen. Hooda said. He was speaking at a seminar organised by the Observer Research Foundation on the National Security Strategy document that he made for the Congress party.
In this regard, he said the internal situation in Kashmir and cross border terrorism from Pakistan “need to be tackled with equal emphasis.” He stated that one surgical strike will not change Pakistan’s behaviour and it needs a long term strategy.
Speaking at the seminar, senior Congress leader and former Union Minister P. Chidambaram said that that if India wants to change Pakistan’s behaviour towards India, then “we must examine our behaviour to Pakistan as well.” “The answer to the biggest external challenge to India, not only in terms of security but other ways, is to find a way to normalise India-Pakistan relations,” he added.
Terming the rise of China the biggest threat to India, Lt. Gen .Hooda said that strategic rivalry is a reality and it cannot be overcome by increasing trade. “We felt that we must clearly enunciate our core interests to China. And our core interests are the sanctity of our borders, our worries about terrorism, and our strategic interests in South Asia and the Indian Ocean, he said.
In this regard, pending the resolution of our border, we are getting nowhere, he observed and added, “We should at least push for defining the Line of Actual Control (LAC) because that is one thing that would prevent us from having incidents like Chumar and Doklam and so on.”
On the contours of the document, Lt. Gen. Hooda said it is based on five basic tenets which are assuming rightful place in global affairs, achieving a secure neighbourhood, resolution of internal conflicts, protecting our people and strengthening our capabilities.
Stating that it wasn’t an “ideal document,” he said the goal when the document was made was to “start a debate and discussion on this important aspect of national security strategy.”
With the overall geopolitical situation, the document identified weaknesses in national security which need to be addressed. Among them he referred to weakness along the LAC in terms of infrastructure development despite claims and the border management in Manipur with Myanmar which he said was poor.
