When I say that these are different times, I mean that the challenges for the nation are far greater than we think. Ironically, the ever-changing cycle of challenges is moving on because we tend to ignore certain stark realities dotting the ground and atmospherics. These challenges can be surmounted if there is a collective will to set things right in earnest. And, I am of course, talking in the context of Jammu and Kashmir.The question I often ask myself is, how long will J&K be battling terrorism?

On Sunday, July 26, the nation led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid rich tributes to the bravery of the Indian soldiers who made supreme sacrifice in the trans-Himalayan heights in Kargil 27 years ago. They fought not only to defend the country but primarily to uproot the Pakistani intruders who had occupied the Indian military posts in complete violation of the agreement not to eye the posts on the LoC during winters. At the same time, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh spoke from the war memorial at Drass, the main theatre of Kargil war in 1999, and delivered an unequivocal warning to Pakistan: don’t ever try to mess up with India, the consequences will be harder than administered during Operation Sindoor. 

The chronology from Kargil to Pahalgam and Operation Sindoor tells one story in very clear terms that until Pakistan realizes that its acts of terror were at the root of the whole problem, no conciliatory approach will ever work. What Pakistan did to the Vajpayee-era approach is a lesson in itself that talks cannot offer a way forward. Pakistan will have to mend its........

© Greater Kashmir