India, March 24 -- Responding to a journalist's question about the periodic political bombast about Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) "being soon restored to India", Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Upendra Dwivedi, aptly and tactfully, pointed out, that should the government desire such an "end state" or outcome, not only must the whole nation be prepared to go to war, but the armed forces must also be adequately "empowered" or equipped for such an ambitious undertaking.

Given this backdrop, the question arises: What is achieved by often heard rhetoric of this kind - whether in the context of PoK or the bizarre notion of Akhand Bharat (Greater India)? Is there insufficient appreciation at the political level that short-sharp revanchist...