Duelling Diplomacies: India and Pakistan offer competing narratives at defence forum in Singapore
SINGAPORE: Fresh off their nerve-jangling, four-day conflict in May, top Indian and Pakistani military delegations have been making the rounds at the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, billed as Asia's premier defence forum.
While much of the attention was on US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's first visit to the gathering since taking up his post, and his warnings of the "imminent" threat he says is posed by China - along with China's response that the Americans should not "play with fire" and make "groundless accusations" - the longstanding tensions between these nuclear-armed neighbours also grabbed attention.
India blames Pakistan for a deadly terror attack on tourists in the part of the disputed region of Kashmir that it controls, while Pakistan denies any involvement and says India has presented no proof.
And just as these nations sit next to each other geographically, some of their top generals sat in neighbouring conference rooms inside the Shangri-La Singapore, taking part in simultaneous sessions late on Saturday (May 31) afternoon on topics ranging from defence innovation solutions to regional crisis-management mechanisms.
"What India has done is politically they have drawn new red lines of the tolerance against terror," said General Anil Chauhan, Chief of Defence Staff with the Indian Armed Forces.
"That should bring about some lessons for our adversary also and, hopefully, they learn that this is a limit of India's tolerance. We've been subjected to this proxy war and terror for the past almost about two decades, or maybe more, and we've lost a lot of people and ... we want to put an end to it.'
General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee of the Pakistan Armed Forces, warned of what could happen should another clash occur, especially given that the fighting took place not just in the disputed region of Kashmir, but also in Pakistan itself.
"The strategic stability with the lowering of this threshold to the dangerous levels if next time such a conflict occurs and the cities are targeted first and the borders become irrelevant mostly, so what you will see is that there could be a chance - I'm not trying to create an alarm but I'm speaking based on logic - there could be a possibility that before the international community intervenes because of the restricted or constricted times window, the damage and destruction may have already taken place."
FROM CONFLICT TO DIPLOMATIC BLITZ
Aside from last month's clash, which saw India strike Pakistani targets but also admit to losing an unspecified number of fighter jets during its "Operation Sindoor", the nations have fought four major wars since their independence in 1947.
In the wake of the recent hostilities, both sides have moved from weapons to words, with India dispatching several delegations to visit more than 30 capitals in Asia and around the world. A similar effort by Pakistan is set to start on Jun 2.
CNA spoke to a member of the multi-party Indian delegation that visited East and Southeast Asia during a stop in Singapore on May 27. Congress party leader and former Indian external affairs minister Salman Khurshid agreed with the views that the effort is unprecedented.
"It is an innovation, in a sense. And the fact that there are multi-party delegations, seven of them across the world, to all members of the (UN) Security Council and prospective members of the Security Council. In that sense, it is unprecedented, and we've got enormous support," he said.
"You might even put it as something that has started, something that will at least ensure that our narrative is carried right through."
And that narrative is firmly focused on India's accusations that Pakistan isn't doing nearly enough to snuff out terrorism.
"The fact remains that talking to them (Pakistan) hasn't worked. Therefore, we are not talking to them now. We've said clearly, put an end to terrorism and then everything can follow. As long as you don't put an end to terrorism, no talks, nothing, no communications, no trade. That's the bottom line that we've drawn for them."
But Pakistan's General Sahir Shamshad Mirza told CNA in a wide-ranging interview that Pakistan is in fact taking on terrorism on its soil and working to tackle cross-border terrorism from groups based in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.
"Why would Pakistan know or be involved in this (Kashmir) incident, when Pakistan's number one is consolidating its fight against terrorism," he asked on the sidelines of the Shangri-La dialogue.
"We are on an upward path in our economy."
Mr Mirza said terrorism has cost his country hundreds of billions of dollars and tens of thousands of lives. He alleged India lashed out, "without any investigation, without any initial inquiry, internal inquiry, without any shred of evidence".
CONVENTIONAL AND UNCONVENTIONAL WEAPONS
India and Pakistan's 96-hour confrontation was seen as a test of the rivals' respective weapons systems, including India's French-made Rafale fighter jets and Pakistan's Chinese-made J10-C jets, armed with Chinese-made missiles. But the top generals on both sides have said their military forces can pick and choose when it comes to their firepower.
"India doesn't depend on one nation for its defence needs,' said General Chauhan during his session.
"It's a number of capabilities which were put together, and most of these capabilities were put to good effects.'
Pakistan's General Mirza told CNA his capabilities include weapons from China and many other places.
"I have the military equipment from US. I have the military equipment from Turkiye. I have the military equipment from Italy. I have the military equipment from UK," he listed. "We have the equipment from all equipment-producing countries."
In addition, both sides relied on drones while also facing serious threats in the form of disinformation. But global concern was firmly fixed on the unconventional weapons they both possess, the ones that can cause widespread destruction and loss of life.
The countries continue to maintain that the use of nuclear weapons was never on the table, with Pakistani officials, including General Mirza to CNA, dismissing reports that Islamabad called a meeting of the National Command Authority, the body that oversees Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.
However, General Mirza said what is seen as an ambiguous policy on nuclear weapons would become less ambiguous, "if you enable a capability to one country and deny a capability to another country".
"The tools of modern conflict, they are artificial intelligence, electronic warfare, cyber, precision, firepower and weapons," he said.
"If there is a yawning gap in either of these, or two of these, so this will place the other country at a disadvantage. So, when a country is at a disadvantage - at the moment we are not, let me be clear - if that goes beyond a proportion, it puts a stress."
TRUMP, TRADE AND A TORN-UP WATER TREATY
US President Donald Trump has said repeatedly that he used the issue of trade access to broker the India-Pakistan ceasefire, most recently on Friday.
"I think the deal I'm most proud of is the fact that we're dealing with India, we're dealing with Pakistan and we were able to stop potentially a nuclear war through trade as opposed through bullets," he said.
India has denied Mr Trump was the deciding factor, and has said it was talk between the neighbours' militaries and not tariffs that made the difference.
Pakistan sees things differently.
"Sadly, the Indians have not, I think, accepted that President Trump was there in the ceasefire. It was actually brokered by President Trump," General Mirza told CNA, while also noting that many other nations played a role. "It was thanks to the US that they finally were able to affect their ceasefire."
But the truce is not the end of this dispute. New Delhi has suspended the decades-old Indus Waters Treaty, which is meant to govern the use of rivers that mainly flow through India and are critical for Pakistan's agriculture and water supply.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed that, "India's water will flow for India, stay for India, and serve India."
But not observing the agreement, which was brokered by the World Bank and signed in 1960, is a red line for Pakistan.
"For 240 million people, most of which is an agrarian society, if you stop, hold or lower, slow the flow of water, if you are at my place, what would you do?' asked General Mirza.
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