Prime Minister Narendra Modi ’s third independence day speech on Monday was widely panned for being boring and unimaginative but he seems to have a hit a homerun at least on one point, the reference to Balochistan and the not-so-subtle implication that India reserves the right to retaliate in kind for Pakistan ’s aggressive interference on Kashmir Strategists and foreign policy experts believe that this will strengthen India’s position considerably in the international arena and put Pakistan on the backfoot. Our neighbour has been blatantly interfering in Kashmir and using the sponsored unrest to try and tarnish India’s image globally. With Modi upping the ante on Baluchistan, Pakistan may find itself on the back foot and forced to rethink its strategy.Modi’s barbs have also inadvertently put India’s main opposition party the Congress in an awkward position. On Monday after the PM’s speech, Congress leader Salman Khurshid criticised the reference and said that it could weaken India’s position with regards to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Surprisingly, Khurshid also invoked the now discredited doctrine of Panchsheel to say that India should not interfere in any country’s internal affairs. Within hours, the Congress party officially responded with a simple and brutal put-down. Human rights are being violated in by Pakistan army in Balochistan and India should raise its voice in bilateral and international forums. Khurshid’s views, it said, were his personal opinion.The flip-flop is interesting but not unusual. Some Congress party leaders may believe in a rose-tinted, simplistic and idealistic foreign policy approach and put their faith in international kindness and benevolence when it comes to solving the vexed Kashmir issue, but the collective party leadership knows such an approach is idiotic. After all, it was the Congress party that forced Manmohan Singh government to recant and disown the infamous Sharm-el-Sheikh communique in 2009 with reference to Balochistan.Whether you are Modi-hater or a supporter there can’t be any two opinions about Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in Kashmir. You may criticise Modi’s approach to solving the J&K problem but no sensible party or leader will refuse to condemn Pakistan’s perfidious cross-border game and India’s attempt to pay it back in kind.By raising the Balochistan issue, Modi may have forced the Congress to do the unthinkable. Abandon all the Panchsheel nonsense and support the NDA’s real-politik based approach which may be more successful in thwarting Pakistan’s attempts. In global power politics, nations often adopt a gimlet-eyed, practical course of action based on realpolitik and a shrewd understanding of global power politics to protect their interests. India’s soft, idealistic approach towards Pakistan and Kashmir has not worked. It is time to take the battle to the enemy.The Congress is also acknowledging another kind of reality through its statement disowning Khurshid. The harsh reality of domestic politics where the Congress is in danger of being reduced to electoral irrelevance through the BJP’s aggressive adoption of Hindutva and a development-oriented nationalist politics. The next few years are crucial for Congress. It has to either win one or two states and perform creditably in the biggest state of Uttar Pradesh for it to be electorally relevant by 2019. It cannot let the BJP paint it as weak-kneed and supine when it comes to protecting the nation’s interests. This is the second reality that Modi has forced the Congress to acknowledge through what otherwise was a dull speech.