In case you missed it, India has a new foreign policy to go with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “chhappan inch ki chhaati” (56-inch chest). The Modi-Doval Doctrine is the brainchild of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, and, going by India’s Myanmar adventure, it is part revisionist, part revolutionary and mostly paranoid. Predictably, this doctrine emphasises the Cold Start component of old, while livening up cross-border rhetoric with the suggestion to “neutralise terrorists through terrorists”. For Pakistan, it is now imperative that the National Cadet Corps (NCC) be revived. A whole generation of young adults has gone without basic weapons and emergency response training and this cannot continue even if India is half bluffing. The NCC was a long running civil defence training programme for college students countrywide, run by the Pakistan Army. For reasons unknown, former President Pervez Musharraf had it shut down in 2002. If we are honest with ourselves, homegrown terror will not go away anytime soon. Terrorists, whether rogue former assets or foreign-trained mercenaries, will keep hitting “soft” targets like mosques, minorities and commercial markets. In such situations, civilians trained to stay calm and respond appropriately will help cut down fatalities. The federal government has talked about resurrecting this programme as part of the National Action Plan (NAP), which is good news. On June 2, 2015, India’s Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj called the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) “unacceptable” because it passed through “Pakistan-occupied Kashmir” – a disputed territory. The underlying Indian worry is that this transportation route will be used for military purposes and not just for trade. India’s claim is not without historical merit. The American Interstate Highway system, crisscrossing the continent, may be a commuter blessing but there was military logic behind the idea. In 1956, US President Dwight Eisenhower wanted an express route to evacuate civilians in case of an atomic attack and for rapid troop deployments if the American communists hatched a civil war. Some sectors of the Indian media have also suggested that the government seek UN intervention in the CPEC matter. To them I say good luck and Godspeed. If India decides to seek UN intervention in reprimanding Pakistan, it will eventually run into Resolution 47 on Kashmir. India, then, will be reminded of the 1948 definition of the word “disputed” as applying to the entire state and not just Pakistan-occupied Kashmir or Indian-occupied Kashmir. Some members of the Security Council will undoubtedly bring up the tabooed idea of a referendum and India’s constant dithering on its implementation. Behind Modi’s tough guy routine is a prime minister with a weak track record. His public honeymoon is over but the good days have not arrived. In 2014, Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) overcame Congress by promising to replicate Gujarat’s fiscal wins nationwide. By attracting foreign investment and championing “made in India” manufacturing, Modi hoped to deliver a growth-driven economy with rampant employment. Unfortunately, he bought into his own hype. India may be an established culture and information technology exporter, but its public infrastructure is poor and underdeveloped. The captains of industry who led Modi’s cheer squad are now disgruntled enough for Ratan Tata, his famous corporate friend, to have to intervene and preach patience. Since he assumed office in May last year, the Indian rupee has fallen and farmers have decried his snail-paced land and agricultural reforms. Unsurprisingly, the BJP has dusted off India’s nemesis, Pakistan, and parades this rivalry to play down its own domestic failures. Of course, the $ 40 billion per annum defence bill has nothing to do with the Modi government’s economic woes. It is doubtful that India will go on the warpath in earnest while President Barack Obama is in the White House. Before US Secretary of State John Kerry’s “enormously concerned” conversation with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the US’s response to the escalating India-Pakistan tensions was nonchalant. Obama’s foreign policy has now pivoted towards China and everyone else can sort out their own problems. Hillary Clinton, should she win in 2016, will be a different proposition. As Secretary of State, she visibly favoured India’s viewpoint, especially on the issue of Pakistan exporting terrorism. Another crucial inhibitor was unknowingly mentioned by Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar recently. He lamented that the “people’s respect for the Army has reduced during peacetime” because “we [India] have not been to war for 40-50 years”. War, like any other team sport, requires constant practice and strategy for the participants to compete well. India’s military may have superior numbers and arsenal but the Pakistan Army is battle hardened and amped up from a decade of intense, unconventional fighting. The public too has gotten used to burying its many thousand casualties. Does Modi think his people, who are used to times of peace, can deal with even a fraction of these losses? I do not think so and I doubt that he does either. The writer is a freelance columnist and audio engineer based in Islamabad