Somewhere somehow something went terribly wrong with India.

As it snarls and growls at Pakistan, and as its clownish studio warriors hyperventilate on screens, none seem to realise that when it comes to strategic geo-political heft, India is losing the plot. Perhaps this is the price you pay for taking yourself more seriously than others do.

The tragic Pahalgam terror attacks have brought India’s this particular weakness into sharper focus. Jingoism and war mongering serve little purpose unless they are calibrated to sync with larger strategic objectives. They can act as instruments of power projection if the power to be projected has required kinetic potency needed to achieve desired outcomes. Untethered from clear policy, jingoism can have the opposite effect: it can throw the government into a commitment trap.

This is exactly what Indians are subjecting themselves to. By talking the big talk without the ability to walk it, New Delhi has raised its people’s expectations to a level that can never be fulfilled. It is a folly that Indian policymakers – and their clowns in TV studios – commit again and again. Frothing at the mouth, shouting insults, hurling threats and generally being a nuisance – these are not traits that big powers........

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