The requirement for Pakistan to take “strong and decisive action” against the Taliban is indisputable. But what merits review are the “time and force” factors. The fundamentals of minimum force and the least collateral damage together with the conduct of concurrent civic action must guide the future planning of operations. Such an approach will obviously imply a slower and steadier pace of advance. But this has to be accepted.

After much hesitation and considerable persuasion, Pakistan has begun to tackle the Taliban menace. Pakistan and its army must now stay the course. The US and its allies seem to understand this. But where fatal mistakes are being made is in the approach. The Pakistan army must jettison heavy stuff like tanks, artillery and gunships. Instead, it must deploy more boots on the ground and back such action with a well-conceived plan of civic action, one that takes into account the Pashtuns in its ranks, nearly a quarter of its strength.

The basic mistake was putting too heavy a premium on the time factor. This is where the US has repeatedly gone wrong. Unless this is now recognised and redefined, they may be looking at a Pakistan-Afghanistan policy instead.

The writer was Director-General, Artillery during the Kargil War express@expressindia.com