India heats up Indo-Pak borders as GW4 is being defeated
By Agha Iqrar Haroon
There is a popular question in the minds of people interested in Indo-Pak relation and question is –why India is heating up Indo-Pak borders?
Above mentioned question has multiple “Possible answers” and one can choose answer of once choice.
First answer is simple —–India wishes to engage Pakistan Army at eastern borders for detracting it from its war on terror that Pakistan Army is winning successfully within the country and at its western borders.
Second answer is that the political narrative of party in power in India–BJP is “enmity with Pakistan”, therefore Modi government is compelled to keep soft music on at Indo-Pak borders for mass support and for pleasing extremist Hindu elements.
Third popular answer is that — India shows its muscle to impose its hegemony in the region therefore it is making sour relations with its neighbors including Pakistan and China.
There are fourth, fifth and sixth answers available but I believe that answer is only One and Very simple if we look the issue of terrorism in Pakistan at Macro level. Pakistan is fighting against 4th/ 5th Generation Warfare launched by India against Pakistan and I believe that Warfare is facing defeat and India is becoming frustrating with every passing day because Pakistan as a Nation stood against terrorism—the GW4 launched by India.
4th Generation Warfare that is known as 4GW is conflict characterized by a blurring of the lines between war and politics, combatants and civilians while 5GW has an imposing characteristic that enemy proposes and promotes a specific philosophy and narrative accepted by masses and religion is usually used for such philosophy. Technically speaking, this is the same warfare that Pakistan and United States launched together in so-called Afghan Jihad against former USSR without engaging themselves directly in war and creating Mujahedeen as a tool for 4GW. This 4GW gave birth to several Islamic jihadi organizations that emerged internationally including Al Qaeda, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, ISIS, Boko Haram etc etc. Who sponsored such organizations and who are using them against humanity is not a difficult question to answer. Pakistan Army itself believes that it is fighting against 4th/ 5th Generation Warfare launched by India against Pakistan.
It is interesting to mention that fourth-generation warfare is normally characterized by a violent non-state actor (VNSA) fighting a state. In this realm, the VNSA uses all three levels of fourth generation warfare. These are the physical (actual combat; it is considered the least important), mental (the will to fight, belief in victory, etc.,) and moral (the most important, this includes cultural norms, etc.) levels.
A 4GW enemy has the following characteristics: lack of hierarchical authority, lack of formal structure, patience and flexibility, ability to keep a low profile when needed, and small size. A 4GW adversary might use the tactics of an insurgent, terrorist or guerrilla in order to wage war against a nation’s infrastructure. Fourth generation warfare takes place on all fronts: economical, political, the media, military, and civilian. Another characteristic of fourth-generation warfare is that VNSA’s forces are decentralized there may even be no single organisation and that smaller groups organize into spontaneous alliances to target a bigger threat.
This Warfare used by India through radical outfits like Tehrik-i-Taliban had a clear ideological narrative and an aspiration to destroy Pakistan Army. By design, TTP wanted only destruction because it was impossible to defeat one of the largest army of the world that has a great air force because terrorists have everything in the world except Air Force and anti Air Force structure. Terrorists can win ambush at land but can not win when a country is using its full air power to destroy hideouts. TTP attacked on strategic installations like GHQ, NHQ, ISI, IB, Kamra Air Base, Naval Base in Karachi, Quetta Air Base and Karachi Airport and these attacks were designed for mere destruction — not for controlling these installations because it was awfully impossible to control such installations and retain them for a long period of time.
India developed different terrorist groups in south Punjab, Baluchistan, Sindh and other areas with different brand names like Lashkar A and Lashkar B etc etc with a single target that being the state armed forces.
4th/ 5th Generation Warfare are terrible to fight out as they have many faces, many heads, many tails and many dimensions but this factor of “many” can be used as anti-thesis of these outfits because this warfare have no focal leadership. As a result, these alliances are weak and if the state’s military leadership is smart enough, it can split enemies and cause them to fight amongst themselves.
