2019年经济学人 印度vs巴基斯坦:莫迪的危险时刻(1)

 

Leaders

《社论》

Modi’s dangerous moment

莫迪的危险时刻

Two nuclear powers are shooting at each other. They are playing with fire

两个核大国正在互相攻击。正在玩火

The armies of India and Pakistan often exchange fire across the front line in the disputed state of Kashmir. When tensions rise, one side will subject the other to a blistering¹ artillery² barrage³. On occasion, the two have sent soldiers on forays into one another’s territory. But since the feuding⁴ neighbours tested nuclear weapons in the late 1990s, neither had dared send fighter jets across the frontier—until this week. After a terrorist group based in Pakistan launched an attack in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir that killed 40 soldiers, India responded by bombing what it said was a terrorist training camp in the Pakistani state of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Pakistan retaliated⁵ by sending jets of its own to bomb Indian targets. In the ensuing air battle, both sides claim to have shot down the other’s aircraft, and Pakistan captured an Indian pilot.

印度和巴基斯坦军队经常在有争议的克什米尔前线交火。紧张局势升级时，一方会对另一方进行猛烈的炮火攻击。有时，两国还派士兵进入对方的领土。但自上世纪90年代末这两个长期不和的邻国进行核武器试验以来，双方都不敢派遣战斗机飞越边境，而本周这个局面被打破。一个以巴基斯坦为基地的恐怖组织在印度控制的克什米尔地区发动袭击，造成40名士兵死亡，此后，作为回应，印度轰炸了巴基斯坦开伯尔-普赫图赫瓦州的一个恐怖分子训练营。在随后的空战中，双方都声称击落了对方的飞机，巴基斯坦抓获了一名印度飞行员。

A miscalculation now could spell calamity⁶. The fighting is already the fiercest between the two countries since India battled to expel Pakistani intruders from high in the Himalayas in 1999. The initial Indian air raid struck not Pakistan’s bit of Kashmir, but well within Pakistan proper and just 100km from the capital, Islamabad. That, in effect, constituted a change in the rules of engagement between the two. India and Pakistan are so often at odds⁷ that there is a tendency to shrug⁸ off their spats⁹, but not since their most recent, full-blown war in 1971 has the risk of escalation¹⁰ been so high.

现在的误判可能导致灾难。自1999年印度从喜马拉雅山高处驱逐巴基斯坦入侵者以来，两国之间的斗争已经达到最激烈的程度。印度最初的空袭并非针对巴基斯坦的克什米尔地区，而是在巴基斯坦境内，距离首都伊斯兰堡仅100公里。这实际上改变了双方的交战规则。印度和巴基斯坦经常发生争执，人们往往此往往不以为意，但自1971年爆发最近一场全面战争以来，局势升级的风险从未如此之高。

The intention of Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, in ordering the original air strike was simple. Pakistan has long backed terrorists who mount grisly attacks in India, most notably¹¹ in Mumbai in 2008, when jihadists who arrived by boat from Pakistan killed some 165 people. Although Pakistan’s army promised then to shut down such extremist groups, it has not. By responding more forcefully than usual to the latest outrage¹², Mr Modi understandably wanted to signal that he was not willing to allow Pakistan to keep sponsoring terrorism.

印度总理纳伦德拉?莫迪最初下令发动空袭的意图很简单。长期以来，巴基斯坦一直支持在印度发动恐怖袭击的恐怖分子，尤其是2008年圣战分子乘船从巴基斯坦抵达，在孟买制造恐怖袭击，造成165人死亡。巴基斯坦军方尽管当时承诺要关闭这些极端组织，但并没有这么做。莫迪对最近的暴行做出了比以往更有力的回应，这可以理解，他想要表明，他不愿意让巴基斯坦继续支持恐怖主义。

1 blistering   

adj.酷热的；猛烈的；使起疱的；可恶的v.起水疱；起气泡；使受暴晒n.[涂料] 起泡

参考例句：

• The runners set off at a blistering pace. 赛跑运动员如脱缰野马般起跑了。
• This failure is known as preferential wetting and is responsible for blistering. 这种故障称为优先吸湿，是产生气泡的原因。 来自辞典例句

2 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

3 barrage   

n.火力网，弹幕

参考例句：

• The attack jumped off under cover of a barrage.进攻在炮火的掩护下开始了。
• The fierce artillery barrage destroyed the most part of the city in a few minutes.猛烈的炮火几分钟内便毁灭了这座城市的大部分地区。

4 feuding   

vi.长期不和（feud的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Riccardo and Cafiero had been feuding so openly that the whole town knew about it. 里卡多和卡菲埃罗一直公开地闹别扭，全城的人都知道此事。 来自辞典例句
• The two families have been feuding with each other for many generations. 这两个家族有好多代的世仇了。 来自互联网

5 retaliated   

v.报复，反击( retaliate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• When he once teased her for her inexperience, she retaliated. 有一次，他讥讽她没有经验，她便反唇相讥。 来自辞典例句
• The terrorists retaliated by killing three policemen. 恐怖分子以杀死三名警察相报复。 来自辞典例句

6 calamity   

n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件

参考例句：

• Even a greater natural calamity cannot daunt us. 再大的自然灾害也压不垮我们。
• The attack on Pearl Harbor was a crushing calamity.偷袭珍珠港(对美军来说)是一场毁灭性的灾难。

7 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

8 shrug   

v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等)

参考例句：

• With a shrug,he went out of the room.他耸一下肩，走出了房间。
• I admire the way she is able to shrug off unfair criticism.我很佩服她能对错误的批评意见不予理会。

9 spats   

n.口角( spat的名词复数 )；小争吵；鞋罩；鞋套v.spit的过去式和过去分词( spat的第三人称单数 )；口角；小争吵；鞋罩

参考例句：

• Gasoline is a solvent liquid that removes grease spats. 汽油是一种能脱去油迹的有溶解能力的液体。 来自辞典例句
• Then spats took a catnap, and the bird looked out for dogs. 然后斯派茨小睡了一会儿。小鸟为它站岗放哨，防止狗跑过来。 来自互联网

10 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

11 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

12 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。