Pakistan Army’s Azm-e-Nau-III: Hot Start Vs Cold Start

Iftikhar Butt

Pakistan Army’s Azm-e-Nau-III exercise ends with 35 days round-the clock, almost non-stop, drill for sharpening wits and weapons, upgrading and uplifting physical and spiritual endurance capacities and capabilities and above all it was an exercise for operational readiness of faith, discipline and armament-with a renewed determination to fight any force on earth threatening the security, people and national assets of Pakistan. Pakistan’s armed forces are a strange phenomenon.

The enemy will find them ever ready for any war, from anywhere, anytime. Its preparedness will be always at the optimum level-may it be Armageddon. Exercise Azm-e-Nau III has left Indian defence analysts, think tanks, the untrustworthy neighbor and its unpredictable army big wigs guessing what was Pakistan Army and government up to.

The Indian government’s thinking is reflected by what her paranoid army and defence analysts think. They are desperate and untrustworthy. And Pakistan is going by the experience with its psychopathic arch enemy who is plundering public money to buy all sorts of choiced weapons to cause maximum harm to Pakistan.

India’s Cold Start-a doctrine evolved in 2004 gives enough exposure to their open intentions to go for a joint-air force, navy and army offence against Pakistan. The Cold Start strategy is aimed militarily at Pakistan and is offensive operation specific. Pakistan government are well aware of their enemy’s outrageously wicked and odious designs. If we just have a cursory glance at the magnitude of India’s defence expenditure for fiscal 2010-2011 we will come to know that it has been raised by 3.98 percent.

They have 32 billion dollars to make happen a catastrophe in the region without predicting that this country would be no more on the world map. India being the largest buyer among emerging countries has already imported military hardware worth 28 billion dollars since 2000 from Israel, Russia, France and Britain. Obviously this kind of preparedness is not meant for small states like Bhutan etc. Further more, India has recently inducted its longest range nuclear-tipped missiles into the army and plans to spend upto US 42 billion dollars on modernisation of its military.

We have just taken a peek at the defence spending of a peace loving country whose 80 percent population is struggling to exist. Acting according to the teachings of their “great” philosopher Chankiya the Indian leaders with an olive branch in their hands have always been straining their every nerve, every wit to subjugate their smaller, weaker neighboring states and even erase their national identity.

And that’s what their godfather, mentor Chankiya’s philosophy is descending through ages, and it has become a nature and psyche of Indian leaders and thinkers. Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru was also fascinated by Chankiya’s teachings. It is an aging old saying about Hindu leaders-they have a dagger hidden in their armpit and Ram’s name on their lips. Indian leader’s perturbance over Azm-e-Nau III military exercise is really justified.

They are paranoid and scared and are attributing the massive military exercise to different motives, perhaps to satisfy their own wily minds. The employment of U.S. supplied military hardware in the exercise greatly irked the Indians. They know it was being proclaimed “India threat-centric” and they also know that they have been using in their exercises military hardware bought and gifted from U.S., Russia and other countries. Pakistan is a sovereign country-it can go for a quid pro quo or any kind of offensive including nukes if its security is challenged by any country.

The army chief General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani has time and again rejected insinuation and a vicious propaganda against Pakistan army launched by Indian and its best friends including U.S. and Israel. General Kayani has also warned the enemies of Pakistan that strategic decisions regarding where, when and how many troops should be deployed were for Pakistan to make and that would be base on objective analysis and full understanding of the threat spectrum.

And when quite recently when an orchestrated slander campaign was launched by the enemy of Pakistan and their agents about the security of nukes Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani sounded them a warning. He warned the detractors that our nuclear weapons are the cornerstone of Pakistan deterrence strategy and enjoy complete national consensus and support.

The Prime Minister dismissed with contempt the U.S. and Indians masterminds of the propaganda with the remarks that their insinuations to the contrary are plain, mischievous and malicious. The Indian leaders and army were perturbed 20 years hence when Pakistan army conducted Zarb-e-Momin (1989) after its pivotal role in forcing Soviet army out of Afghanistan. The entire world knew Pakistan’s role in the victory but India going by its traits was adamant to take it. Now after 20 years the Indian species are again have gall in their heads.

The chief cause of their irritation is that Pakistan army is conducting Azm-e-Nau III of an unprecedented magnitude “sending India politico-military signals”. They are expressing fears that General Kayani through his military genie has brought about U.S.’s U-turn in favour of Pakistan army will ultimately facilitate the U.S. military exit from Afghanistan and the latter conceding strategic space in Afghanistan to the Pakistan army.

The Indian army and leadership feel miserable that they have been sidelined and isolated by U.S. apprehending that these two major factors-Afghanistan and U.S. sidelining India carry politico-military implications for India. Their defence analysts also conclude that Pakistan army, its strategic sensitivities and interests in Afghanistan would be upheld by the United States, disregarding India’s objections to the contrary.

They are further anticipative of the fact that Pakistan army could prevail over United States to make India yield on Kashmir issue. Their defence experts are also cautioning the Indian leaders and policy makers who are infatuated with India-U.S. strategic partnership that if the chips are down the United States will always throw its dice in favour of the Pakistan Army.

Posted in: India,Pakistan