Countering Global Narratives: India's Stance On Pakistan's Terrorism Is Clear

India is now asserting a firm stance in the face of recurring cross-border tension from Pakistan after recent developments. Drawing a clear line, India has specified that any future acts of terror from Pakistan will be considered an act of war.

This position is aimed at reshaping global narratives, according to Tara Kartha, former Director of the National Security Council Secretariat. With the global narratives often tangled in skewed narratives, she along with other experts like Dilip Sinha, former ambassador, highlight the need for India's narrative.

"Most of the academia coming from the US seems to reflect the Pakistan position," Kartha said. To counter this, India needs to actively engage with universities and media on what she calls a unique war.

"It's important to give your version to the media outside. Most of the academia coming from the US seems to reflect the Pakistan position. We have to put this out into universities and media, because this is a unique war," she said.

With the nation's message of refusing to take on any more terrorism, Kartha points out that India has conducted civil exercises, demonstrating its readiness to handle what is thrown, while simultaneously emphasising its message.

"I think the message sent is pretty clear that we are not going to take this. We have done civil exercises that convey that if you are going to war, we are ready. Our people are ready to handle what you throw at us but we do not want war," she said.

Kartha warns that Pakistan is unlikely to cease its support of terrorist activities. "In fact I think you can expect a terrorist strike very soon, because there are a bunch of people who are furious," she adds.

She highlights the need to focus on calling for sanctions on Pakistan as one of India's key courses of action.

"The whole US position seems to de-recognise the fact that there are terrorist camps that are clearly mentioned in the UN-designated list and in black and white. The terrorism dialogue has moved out of the international dialogue on to bigger wars like Gaza and Ukraine while we are made to bleed on terrorism," she noted.

Emphasising that India has under the nuclear threshold got the objective, Kartha calls for balanced narratives globally and need to focus on the issue itself that is being lost in larger geo-political conflicts.