After failing to win the latest, four-day war with Pakistan, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is acting like a wounded lion whose ego is deeply hurt. Following the ceasefire with Pakistan on May 10, Modi now seems obstinate on winning what he calls a two-front war by holding the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) in abeyance and supporting the so-called declaration of independence from Pakistan by BLA, the Baloch Liberation Army.

Indian strategic thinkers and decision-makers miscalculated the response from Pakistan when they fired as many as 24 missiles into AJK and Punjab. While it was a clear defeat for New Delhi evident from the downing of its war planes worth millions of dollars, the bigger debacle for the Modi government came in the form of President Donald Trump announcing ceasefire between India and Pakistan in a tweet on May 10 - something that can only be analysed and interpreted as US mediation between the two adversaries. The US - an important member of the QUAD bloc, also featuring India, Australia and Japan - avoided rendering any political or strategic support to the Modi government during the war with Pakistan, thus spoiling its years of strategic investment into its relationship with the US. New Delhi, however, did not concede that the ceasefire was a result of President Trump's direct intervention, and rather insisted that the activation of hotline for communication between the military commanders of the two countries worked to prevent further escalation of the armed conflict.

An enraged opposition as well as some BJP stalwarts, who termed........

© The Express Tribune