In early hours of January 2, 2016 a group of terrorists attacked the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot, killing seven Indian soldiers and injuring 20 people. The timely retaliation by the India forces resulted in the elimination of the terrorists, preventing larger devastation, which may have occurred if they had reached the area where high-value strategic assists are located.
Media reports and security agencies have suggested that the terrorists received clandestine support from Pakistani’s intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Reports have suggested the hand of Pakistani-based Jaish-e-Muhammad in the attack. Interception of the phone calls made by the terrorists has confirmed that these calls were made to Bahawalpur, the hometown of Jaish chief Maulana Nasood Azhar. In the meantime, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir-based United Jihad Council (UJU) claimed responsibility for the Pathankot attack.
Experts in India feel that the heavily-armed terrorists would have not been able to carry out the attack without the full knowledge and support of the Pakistani military and the ISI. G Parthsarathy, former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, said on a TV news programme that it would be naïve to believe that these terrorists were rogue elements or non-state actors. In fact, while welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise visit to Lahore, security experts had expressed the apprehension that India might face an adverse reaction like the Kargil war, which took place following the Lahore Summit of 1999.
Prime Minister Modi’s oblique references to Pakistani as the sponsor of terrorism in Afghanistan in his address to Afghanistan Parliament on December 25, 2015 also generated concerns in certain sections of the Indian strategic community that the “the Pakistani Army would not have taken kindly” to his statement. Indeed, the attacks on the Pathankot airbase and the Indian Consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif have proved this apprehension right, refuting the myth that the Pakistani military supports its Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in his endeavor to develop peace and friendship with India.
Now, it is only after the i:nvestigation by the National Investigating Agency (INA) that India would be able to conclusively establish the identity of these terrorists and ascertain the role of the Pakistani military and ISI. But what is crystal clear from the Pathankot attack is the fact that the terrorists had mainly two aims. The first was to destroy MiG-21, Mi-25, Mi-35 and other military hardware and the second was to derail the peace process, which received a huge boost following PM Modi’s Lahore visit to the Pakistani Prime Minister on his way from Kabul to New Delhi.
While the Indian forces neutralised the terrorists before they could reach the targeted area of the Pathankot airbase, the Indian government has shown utmost care in dealing with the attack to ensure that it does not cast dark clouds on the ongoing peace process between the two countries, especially with Foreign Secretary-level talks scheduled between the two countries for this week. This is evident from the fact that the Indian government it yet to point its finger at the Pakistani establishment on the issue of the Pathankot terrorist attack. Prime Minister Modi merely said, “Today, enemies of humanity who can’t see India progress tried to strike at our strategic area, a prominent airbase at the Pathankot.”
On the other hand, the Pakistani government in an unprecedented move condemned the attack on the airbase, extending cooperation to India and acting on leads given by India. In a brief press statement issued by the Pakistan’s Foreign Office the country said India and Pakistan would continue with a “sustained dialogue process.” The Pakistani Foreign Office spokesperson further stated, “In line with Pakistan’s commitment to effectively counter and eradicate terrorism, the government is in touch with the Indian government and in working on the leads provided by it.” The gesture of the Pakistani Government is indeed a welcome step towards jointly working with India issue of terrorism in South Asia.
Understandably, the Pathankot airbase attack has put the Indian government in a difficult situation, especially at a time when Prime Minister Modi is trying to find a new way of forging durable peaceful relations with Pakistan. The terror attack has given an opportunity to opponents to criticise the Prime Minister’s overtures towards Pakistan. However, it is equally true that New Delhi has very limited options as far its relations with Islamabad are concerned. And, it is only through talks that India and Pakistan will be able to move towards building a peaceful environment in South Asia.
The renewed dialogue process provides India an opportunity to place all the clinching evidences relating to the Pathankot attack before Pakistan and ask the Nawaz Sharif Government to show its commitment to fight terrorism by nabbing the culprits hiding in Pakistan. In fact, Sharif telephoned Modi regarding the airbase attack. Modi strongly emphasised the need for Pakistan to take firm and immediate action against the organisations and individuals responsible for and linked to the Pathankot attack. India can also ask the US to take serious cognisance of the growing terrorist activates in South Asia to pressure Pakistan to eliminate terrorists.
India should also seek help from Russia and Japan in building pressure on Pakistan from all the quarters on the issue of terrorism. Indeed, in the past the India had followed the similar approach, getting no support from Pakistan on the issue of terrorism.
However, what makes the current phase in India-Pakistan relations different from the earlier ones is the fact that both sides have refrained from attacking each other, preventing the relationship from falling to a low point, as has happened in the past after every terrorist attack India faced. Finally, the Pathankot attack has once again exposed many loopholes in India’s counter-terrorism strategy, which need to be filled urgently.
The author is an ICSSR doctoral fellow at the UGC Centre for Southern Asia Studies, Pondicherry University.
Email: sumitjha83@gmail.com