Opinion

Pakistan’s dangerous ‘good terrorists-bad terrorists’ policy

Barkha Dutt was right in her Oct. 27 op-ed, "The India-Pakistan headache," that India and Pakistan could pose challenges for the next U.S. president. However, they also present a great opportunity.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not reverted to some fire-breathing avatar of a previous self. Mr. Modi is still trying to balance the need for guns of national protection against the need for butter of economic development. Before surgical strikes in response to the killing of 19 Indian soldiers by what New Delhi says were militants from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Mr. Modi challenged Pakistan to a different kind of war: "a war on who defeats unemployment, poverty [and] illiteracy first. Let's see who wins." The Pakistan military, especially its Inter-Services Intelligence wing that controls covert operations, sees fighting India directly and through proxies as a primary reason for being.