The 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks overwhelmingly bear marks of “made in and exported from Pakistan.” The United Nation, the United States and the entire international community have explicitly acknowledged it and have asked Pakistan government to ban certain terrorists outfits openly operating in Pakistan and directing terror attacks against India. It would be quite naïve to even doubt the complicity of either or both the Pakistan army and the ISI given the highly coordinated nature of Mumbai attack. With the international pressure acting in tandem, India has upped the decibel level and has sent across the globe enough indication that it would initiate appropriate response if the Pakistan government did not act to rein in terrorist outfits openly operating from its soil to launch terror attacks in India and to dismantle terror camps in Pakistan occupied Kashmir and in several places in Pakistan. Buckling under intense heat from the United States and following the resolution of the United Nation Security Council to that effect, the government in Pakistan has banned a few terror groups and arrested some leaders of these groups. But the question is: what next? India has absolutely no leverage with Pakistan to continue to pursue the matter long after the international pressure on Pakistan subsides. The banned groups will reemerge with new names as has happened before and continue to execute their masters’ (read the Pakistan Army and the ISI) nefarious designs against India. It is no secret that the civilian government in Pakistan has no control over its army and the ISI. Therefore, howsoever well-meaning their civilian leaders are in normalizing relationship with India, they can go no further than the comfort zone of their army and security agency.
Under the circumstances, what should India’s long-term response be? The war is certainly not a wise option, nor is the surgical strikes on the terror camps inside the Pakistani territory as it would inevitable lead to a full-fledged war. In that event, Pakistan would further dissipate into chaos thereby destabilizing the entire region. The army will get an excuse to again overthrow although weak but still a democratic government in Pakistan. Then what should or could India do to ensure beating rogue elements in Pakistan, both covert and overt, at their own game of waging proxy war against India? The answer probably lies in a re-look at India’s foreign policy on war on terror. India should join as a contributing ally on field with the United States on its war on terror in Afghanistan in full steam, including sending its troop to fight alongside the NATO and the US troops in Afghanistan. This will diminish the role of Pakistan on which America has to depend heavily and thus under obligatory pressure have to turn blind eye, so long their interest is not hurt, at the ISI and the Pakistan army’s known complicity in aiding and abetting terrorist outfits to do their biddings, which is to carryout terror strikes in Pakistan, India and elsewhere. The move to provide political, economic and military support by India to the U.S. in Afghanistan will give maneuvering space for the U.S. strategic interests in the region to deal with Pakistan firmly in matters of terror acts emanating from its soil. The United States is aware, so is the global community, that Pakistan has become the epicenter of terror and future terror attacks on the US and elsewhere will emanate from it, they also know that the ISI has been playing a double game against their interests and have gone on record warning the ISI after the attacks on the Indian embassy in Kabul, they are mindful of the fact that the ISI and some elements in the Pakistan army have been providing all kinds of support to terror groups in Pakistan and Kashmir to further their goal of bleeding India through thousand cuts. But the action the United States can take against Pakistan is limited by the extent to which such actions would hurt their war on terror in Afghanistan and in the North West Frontier Province in Pakistan. Once India joins as an ally, the United States will be able to tell the civilian government in Pakistan to stamp out all the terror groups and rogue elements in its various services and bring the ISI under civilian control. Under the US watch, the Army also would not be able to do anything to stop its government from acting against their interests.
The present government in India should not have any problem in taking the policy decision to send troops to Afghanistan and provide other economical and political support to the United States in their war against terror. After all, we are also affected by situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Had the US not attacked Afghanistan, a nation then run by terrorists, the security situation for India would have been unimaginable. There would have been many more hijacking and terror incidents in India. We should have immediately joined the US when it attacked Afghanistan. But then there were several political compulsions. But today, situation is different. There is overwhelming public support in the aftermath of the Mumbai attack for tough policy measures to fight terrorism emanating from Pakistan. The leader of Opposition has said in Parliament that his party and the coalition would lend unequivocal support to any measures the government would contemplate in India’s fight against terrorism. The political compulsion no longer exists. The Left parties are no longer in coalition. They will make loud ranting, but who cares. We know well that which nation’s interest they represent. Let them make noise.
As for Indian Muslims, in the last several years, particularly in the last few months, they have further strengthened my belief that they are more patriotic and “Indian” than anyone else. They have expressly and continuously denounced terrorism and have termed all those associated with it as not the followers of Islam. Their response to the Mumbai terror was equally spontaneous and angry as everyone else’s. There is clear unanimity across the Muslim community to root out terrorism for whatever it takes, even it means going to war against Pakistan. Many eminent leaders have categorically warned Pakistan to stay away from Indian Muslims. One heartening feature of the terror attack on Mumbai on November 26 has almost gone unnoticed, which is that all the terrorists had to be transported from Pakistan. There was a grave risk of them being spotted and neutralized well before they could reach the Mumbai shore. The odds were heavily against them. Even if they were able to make it, as was the case, there was the danger of exposing their masters in Pakistan, as has happened. Their perpetrators and backers of the attack knew this but they had had to take this risk because they could not find anyone in India. It shows that it is not proper to demonize an entire community for the acts of few radical elements within that community. Such extremist elements exist in all communities.
Under the circumstances, what should India’s long-term response be? The war is certainly not a wise option, nor is the surgical strikes on the terror camps inside the Pakistani territory as it would inevitable lead to a full-fledged war. In that event, Pakistan would further dissipate into chaos thereby destabilizing the entire region. The army will get an excuse to again overthrow although weak but still a democratic government in Pakistan. Then what should or could India do to ensure beating rogue elements in Pakistan, both covert and overt, at their own game of waging proxy war against India? The answer probably lies in a re-look at India’s foreign policy on war on terror. India should join as a contributing ally on field with the United States on its war on terror in Afghanistan in full steam, including sending its troop to fight alongside the NATO and the US troops in Afghanistan. This will diminish the role of Pakistan on which America has to depend heavily and thus under obligatory pressure have to turn blind eye, so long their interest is not hurt, at the ISI and the Pakistan army’s known complicity in aiding and abetting terrorist outfits to do their biddings, which is to carryout terror strikes in Pakistan, India and elsewhere. The move to provide political, economic and military support by India to the U.S. in Afghanistan will give maneuvering space for the U.S. strategic interests in the region to deal with Pakistan firmly in matters of terror acts emanating from its soil. The United States is aware, so is the global community, that Pakistan has become the epicenter of terror and future terror attacks on the US and elsewhere will emanate from it, they also know that the ISI has been playing a double game against their interests and have gone on record warning the ISI after the attacks on the Indian embassy in Kabul, they are mindful of the fact that the ISI and some elements in the Pakistan army have been providing all kinds of support to terror groups in Pakistan and Kashmir to further their goal of bleeding India through thousand cuts. But the action the United States can take against Pakistan is limited by the extent to which such actions would hurt their war on terror in Afghanistan and in the North West Frontier Province in Pakistan. Once India joins as an ally, the United States will be able to tell the civilian government in Pakistan to stamp out all the terror groups and rogue elements in its various services and bring the ISI under civilian control. Under the US watch, the Army also would not be able to do anything to stop its government from acting against their interests.
The present government in India should not have any problem in taking the policy decision to send troops to Afghanistan and provide other economical and political support to the United States in their war against terror. After all, we are also affected by situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Had the US not attacked Afghanistan, a nation then run by terrorists, the security situation for India would have been unimaginable. There would have been many more hijacking and terror incidents in India. We should have immediately joined the US when it attacked Afghanistan. But then there were several political compulsions. But today, situation is different. There is overwhelming public support in the aftermath of the Mumbai attack for tough policy measures to fight terrorism emanating from Pakistan. The leader of Opposition has said in Parliament that his party and the coalition would lend unequivocal support to any measures the government would contemplate in India’s fight against terrorism. The political compulsion no longer exists. The Left parties are no longer in coalition. They will make loud ranting, but who cares. We know well that which nation’s interest they represent. Let them make noise.
As for Indian Muslims, in the last several years, particularly in the last few months, they have further strengthened my belief that they are more patriotic and “Indian” than anyone else. They have expressly and continuously denounced terrorism and have termed all those associated with it as not the followers of Islam. Their response to the Mumbai terror was equally spontaneous and angry as everyone else’s. There is clear unanimity across the Muslim community to root out terrorism for whatever it takes, even it means going to war against Pakistan. Many eminent leaders have categorically warned Pakistan to stay away from Indian Muslims. One heartening feature of the terror attack on Mumbai on November 26 has almost gone unnoticed, which is that all the terrorists had to be transported from Pakistan. There was a grave risk of them being spotted and neutralized well before they could reach the Mumbai shore. The odds were heavily against them. Even if they were able to make it, as was the case, there was the danger of exposing their masters in Pakistan, as has happened. Their perpetrators and backers of the attack knew this but they had had to take this risk because they could not find anyone in India. It shows that it is not proper to demonize an entire community for the acts of few radical elements within that community. Such extremist elements exist in all communities.
Given all the above conditions, the time is right and now to act in a clever manner to deal a body blow to the terror emanating from Pakistan aimed at destabilizing India. Only way to deliver the blow is make a paradigm shift in our foreign policy and join the war on terror as equal partner with the United States and help augment their efforts to eliminate the scourge of terrorism blowing our way from Afghanistan and Pakistan. Seeing two mighty powers on one side, all elements in Pakistan responsible for fanning terrorism will retract inside the shell because any misadventure will immediately spell their doom.
2 comments:
I agree about your suggestion to send troops to Afghanistan but at the same time, India should also recall its envoy and break all diplomatic relation with Pakistan.
We need to tread cautiously in our response to whatever elements in Pakistan - state or non-state players - detrmined to arrest India's economic growth and development through such terror campaigns. Pakistan at present is at mercy of International Monetary Funds and of the US and China. It is a state in tatters while its neighbouring nation is growing its economic, technology and military clout in the world. This is absolutely indistible to everyone in Pakistan. I am sorry to include everyone but majority civil society groups and media are not only refusing to accept that the Mumbai attack of November 26 was handiwork of terror groups operating from Pakistan with the ISI and the Army in cohort but are floating abusrd conspiracy theories. It is not only the Pakistan army and the ISI but they have support in funding from the middle eastern countries which can not fathom the fact that a Hindu nation is an imposing towering presence in the midst of a cluster of Muslim nations. Because none of these nations, including Pakistan, have capacity to match vibrancy of India democracy, plural society, and ability, creativity and innovative prowess of its people in the fields of science, technology and entrepreneurship. So ssince they can not rise, only way to stop India's inevitable progress is by supporting the infrastructure of terror to carryout strikes in India at regular intervals.
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