Quote Originally Posted by omarali50 View Post
I am not "worried" about R and W in the sense of "worried what they may do to Pakistan". I was expressing the hope that R and W will not get India involved more deeply that is cost-efficient.
About Pakistan, unfortunately GHQ is not asking for advice from liberals or lefties or mildly cynical democrats. They are boxing above their weight category and ordinary Pakistanis are paying most of the price. Sadly, that may continue for a while. I agree that Relatives and Wives will probably do little damage and Afghans and Russians and CIA and ISI's own rebellious children (above all) will do more.
The following thoughts are easily misunderstood, but I do wish India would do better because I think the modern idea of India is superior to most other competing ideas in the subcontinent. I wish it success because I believe that its success will be good for a billion plus Indians and could pull up others around its periphery. I am aware that there is a large gap between idea and practice in India (and of course, there is in all countries) but the failure of this ideal would likely be a catastrophe, not just for India, but for its neighbours as well.
There may be smaller catastrophes along the way even if the idea works better, and particular neighbours may fail to benefit from its success due to their own short-sightedness or other obsessions (and it may have to succeed in spite of them, not with their cooperation), but a better India would be a net plus for the people of the region (though not necessarily for all factions).
If this sounds too mushy I would add that I do have far more cynical days..
True, but you know as well as I do that is not going to happen. As VCheng said, this opportunity is too enticing to pass up for RAW but our present government is the most timid one we ever had. Overseas adventure is not their cup of tea. Recent Maldivian crisis is a perfect example. And when a nation with a strong military is led by an economist some things are bound to go wrong.

So far the idea of Republic of India despite it's flaws and challenges have survived for 60 years and is stronger than ever. For a liberal like you it's a good thing, for a Pak hardliner it's not. I have been criticized on Indian forums for not rooting for the defeat of Pakistan in SWAT and SW. This was not out of love but I was not ready to have a neighbor whose radical but disciplined army is to be replaced by a more radical and trigger happy bunch of thugs.

This tiny planet won't survive a much larger and much more powerful "Afghanistan".