THE ULTIMATE WEAPON?
The beauty of Cold Start is that it may never have to be used because it calls Pakistan's nuclear bluff at the outset, which is perhaps why the Pakistani generals are so agitated. Indeed, why should they be troubled at all if the Indian Army is saying goodbye to its old strategy of breaking up Pakistan?
Ultimately, Cold Start may prove to be the Brahmastra - the Hindu God Brahma's doomsday weapon, never to be used but which keeps the enemy in perpetual shock and awe. India's military brass has come up with a solution for taming Pakistan; it is now up to the political leadership to bite the bullet, and the world to back it. As ancient India's master of statecraft Chanakya wrote in the Arthashastra 2300 years ago:
The antidote of poison is poison, not nectar,
The vicious are deaf to entreaties gentle,
Meet the enemy on his own terms
And batter his pretentions to dust.
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