When India's Commandos carried an anti-terror surgical strike across LoC, Pakistan caught unaware of any such possibility and the incident has pushed the Pakistan in a tight corner. Since the time of breaking news, their leadership and Army switched to denial mode on any such surgical strike but with inconsistent and contradictory statements.
But the anger visible on the faces of their leaders tells the other story. In present situation One does not expect them to admit it anyway. Post-midnight on Wednesday-Thursday the Indian Army carried out surgical strikes at terrorists and their protectors across the Line of Control in the Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. Pakistan officially admitted that two of its soldiers were killed in firing by the Indian Army.
In Indian Army operations in the wee hours of Thursday, scores of terrorists were killed and several of their launch pads destroyed. In the early morning briefing by Lt General Ranbir Singh, the Director General of Military Operations, the nation was taken into confidence. Following several terror attacks, including in Poonch and Uri, and after several aborted attacks, the army undertook the mission to neutralize the launch pads of the terrorists on the Pakistani side of the LoC. Striking up two to three kilometers inside the Pak-held territory of Jammu Kashmir, the army claimed there were massive casualties of terrorists, their guides and handlers. Besides, eight of the launch pads from where terrorists crossed into India were smashed.
The DGMO, Lt General Singh said that he had been in touch with his Pakistani counterpart and had informed him about the operations carried out by the Indian Army. The Cabinet Committee on Security met under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi on Thursday morning.
The President, the Vice-President and leaders of various opposition parties and chief ministers were briefed about the operations. Though Pakistan denied, as it would, the severity of the surgical operations, the Indian Army seems to have kept its word to avenge the Uri attack on September 18, in which it had lost 20 of its men, at a time and location of its choosing. There were no Indian casualties in the Wednesday-Thursday morning operations.
Ground troops and helicopter-borne para-commandos were involved in the surgical attacks. While the military did its job, the political leadership too was fully engaged in isolating Pakistan. The fact that the upcoming meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in Islamabad has now become a non-starter with India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan deciding to boycott it is now undeniable. Of late Sri Lanka too followed the course and expressed the situation not appropriate to participate in SAARC Summit.
Pakistan cannot expect ‘business as usual' and seek regional cooperation even as it sends out its jihadis and other state-sponsored actors to attack India and targets in other neighboring nations, including Afghanistan. Pakistan may not be bothered by the boycott of the Islamabad meeting of the SAARC by key member-States, but unless it renounces terrorism as a foreign policy tool, sooner than later even its powerful friends like China and the US will feel obliged to shun it.
China too is wary of Islamic terrorism targeted against its nationals and installations in Pakistan while the Americans feel constrained to keep the Pakistani generals in good humour only because they are keen for a quick pullout from the Afghan quagmire. Admittedly, the religious bond will grant Pakistan a rather long rope in the Islamic world.
After the Uri incident, the Modi Government has sought to pressure Pakistan in multiple ways, including on the Line of Control in Kashmir. But it is unlikely that Pakistan will renege on jihadi exports. Therefore, any lowering of the guard should be definitely ruled out. And efforts to paint Pakistan a terrorist State must continue unabated.
Terrorism is the scourge of modern times. Nations, including the most developed and militarily strong, face the threat from Islamic jihadis and/or lone wolves sympathetic to them. Saddled with a hostile geography and a suspect demography, India is particularly vulnerable to terror attacks originating in Pakistan. Upgrading military and security preparedness and a constant vigil have become absolutely imperative. Nation needs not to prolong celebration in the name of strike against Pakistan but be on tenter's hook to preempt any return terror attack.
Our Armed, security forces and intelligence wings are supposed to be on highest alert in unison as Pakistan Army is likely to hit back on any military, civilian, strategical or commercial establishments to avenge its embarrassment. The Pakistan's Army General Rahil Sharif to appease their Islamic fundamentalists Opposition parties, hopefully, will resist the temptation to undermine national morale by questioning the success of the surgical operations. Such cheap tactics achieve nothing while they demoralize the security forces. The need for national unity to fight the perpetrators of terror cannot be exaggerated. The country must learn to speak in one voice on fighting terror.
