Jai Hind

So it looks like India has finally had enough of Pakistan's FA, and is having them FO the cost of having proxy Islamic terrorist groups attack India.

After Pakistan has been funding, sheltering, and using not-really-deniable terrorist groups as proxies, the Indians have finally had enough.

AP:  India-Pakistan Live: Islamabad vows retaliation after India's 'Operation Sindoor' strikes kill 26

Pakistan's latest supported terrorist group's terrorist attack in April was a step too far for India to tolerate.  Pakistan had been the supplier and base for the Mumbai attacks and countless others and they've gotten away without retaliation for doing so.

Until now.

India hit terrorist training sites in Pakistan in response to the latest attack. Part of this is due to India's new more friendly relationship with the United States and both nations troubles with Islamic terrorism.  The USA had long backed Pakistan over India as India was semi-involved/kinda sorta/it's complicated,  in the Soviet sphere of influence, but that support has worm thin, especially as Pakistan was supporting the Taliban against us in Afghanistan.

This does up the stakes, as Pakistan and India have had open warfare before and as each side has nuclear weapons things can get out of hand unless overall deterrence is reestablished.

However, a relationship where Pakistan can continue to send terrorists over the border to attack Indian civilians without any response is no longer tenable or acceptable, nor should it have been. 

Pakistan has long organized, trained, sheltered, funded, and then sent terrorist groups over to India and then  said "Who, Us?" each time after an attack, and continued a low-level conflict.

India is no longer permitting that, which is a good thing and may just re-establish an overall deterrence to have Pakistan stop the continued attacks when there is a cost imposed on Pakistan for these acts.  

It's a high-risk situation, but the current status quo of ignoring Pakistani responsibility for the myriad of terrorist attacks is not acceptable to India, nor should it be.

The Hindus and Hindon'ts For Candidate Trump

The general consensus in the US this election cycle seems to be "Heaven Help Us".

In India, those in favor of Trump's candidacy have now one-upped that generalized sentiment. They've now held a ceremony requesting divine intervention in his favor.

The Detroit News: Indian Hindus ask gods to help Trump

This 2016 Presidential Election is certainty going to provide lots of entertainment worldwide.

More Results Of That Smart Diplomacy - The Pivot To Asia Wobbles

Oh, that Obama-declared Pivot to Asia? Well Japan seems to not put much stock by it, and seeing Obama's faithfulness toward the United States' traditional allies elsewhere, is now looking to its own defense.

The Detroit News: Japan boosts its military forces over island dispute

From 2014-2019, Japan plans to buy three drones, as well as 28 F-35A fighters, 17 Osprey aircraft and five destroyers, including two with Aegis anti-ballistic-missile systems. The purchases will cost $247 billion, up 5 percent from the previous plan.

Broader defense program guidelines also adopted Tuesday say Japan is “gravely concerned” about China’s growing maritime and military presence in the East China Sea, and its lack of transparency and “high-handed” approach. Late last month, China said all aircraft entering a vast zone over the East China Seat must identify themselves and follow Chinese instructions.

While Japan’s alliance with the U.S. remains the cornerstone of its defense, Japan also should seek increased security cooperation with South Korea, Australia, Southeast Asia and India, the guidelines say.

“Up until now, Japan focused too much on the Japan-U.S. security alliance,” Isozaki said. “I don’t think that alone is enough to protect the peace in this region.

So we now have a former staunch ally, Japan, looking elsewhere for protection and seeking to be able to project more of its own naval and air power due to the the administration's fumbling foreign policy record.

What could possibly go wrong?

Meanwhile, the Administration managed to fumble the arrest in New York of an Indian Diplomat, kicking off protests in India and sanctions against our diplomats there.

Regardless of whether the arrest based on an alleged visa fraud, for false filing regarding employment of a nanny by the diplomat, was proper or not it sure wasn't handled very well. The administration is behind the publicity and diplomacy curve on this quite badly.

Ah, the glories of Obama's smart diplomacy.

Obvious Statement of the Day - "Terrorist Groups Help Each Other"

Defense Secretary Gates Says Terrorist Groups Help Each Other Thanks for the hot tip Captain Obvious.

Next up, a declaration that water is wet.

Fox News:

A syndicate of terror groups is working to sow violence and destruction across South Asia, and India and Pakistan need to work together to combat the mutual threat, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday.

Gates, who spoke during a visit to India, said no nation was immune from terror.

He linked Taliban militants operating along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border with Lashkar-e-Taiba extremists accused of orchestrating the 2008 terror attack on the Indian city of Mumbai, saying both groups worked under the umbrella of Al Qaeda.

"It's dangerous to single out any one of these groups and say, 'If we can beat that group, that will solve the problem,' because they are in effect a syndicate of terrorist operators intended to destabilize this entire region," Gates said.

When one group succeeds in carrying out an attack, all of them gain in capability and reputation, he said. "A victory for one is a victory for all."

Once again, pretty obvious statements given what is known regrading cooperation between not only various terrorist groups under the Al Qaeda umbrella but beyond, for example Hamas and Iran and Hezbollah assisting each other in terrorist attacks against Israel. Indeed both Shiite and Sunni terrorist groups have worked together in Iraq to kill Americans in between bouts of killing each other.

Gates then in his address in India stated that

India is spending billions annually on U.S.-made military hardware, although Gates said current agreements prevent India from being able to buy some U.S. weaponry or technology.

Given that India is an ally in this War on Terror, War on Radical Islamic Extremism, or War on Foreign National Caused Disasters, whatever you choose to call this conflict, it is high time those agreements were modified to enable the US and India to more closely cooperate and come together as allies in this conflict.