A recent New York Times report that 11,000 soldiers of the Peoples’ Liberation Army have been stationed in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of the PoK, carries important implications for India. For India to put forth its legitimate claim to the whole of Kashmir, the time is now or else, never.

While the world community is trying its best to provide help to flood affected Pakistan in spite of aid fatigue, SAARC is conspicuous by its absence.

The ISI threat assessment may be received with great enthusiasm in Western capitals and policy circles, but for observers from the subcontinent it is neither ‘fundamental’ nor a ‘shift’.

Apart from alleviating the material plight of the people, transforming the feudal mindset and operationalising reforms to induce fair play and social justice should be one of the long term priority areas for the civilian government in Pakistan.

A clean-up operation by the Pakistan Army could actually end up sharpening the ethnic polarisation in the city, which in turn could lead to the conflagration that everyone in Karachi fears.

The anger and frustration of the people against the political parties and the nimble footed response of the Islamists will result in disaffection of people towards the state and rising support for the jihadis.

India has to prepare itself for the consequences of an unstable Pakistan headed by a weak civilian government, effectively controlled by the army.