In the aftermath of the terror attack in Mumbai, relations between India and Pakistan have come under severe strain. The two countries initiated a peace process in 2003 and had registered marked improvement in bilateral relations. An angry India called off the tour of its cricketing team to that neighbouring country. India wanted crackdown on terror sponsors in Pakistan, whom India alleges, “carried out the attacks in Mumbai”. But Pakistan takes the stand that there is no proof to the effect that the attackers were from Pakistani soil.

In the light of these developments, a symposium was held on 16th December at India International Centre, New Delhi on the subject “The Attack on Mumbai and Indo-Pak Relations”. I.K. Gujral, former Prime Minister of India, Jaswant Singh, senior BJP leader, Brajesh Mishra, former National Security Adviser, Gen V.P. Malik, former Chief of the Army Staff, Naresh Chandra, former Indian Ambassador to the US and K. Subramanian, strategic expert were the main speakers.

All the speakers put forward their respective views on India’s military, diplomatic and bilateral course of action with Pakistan in the aftermath of terror attack. There were divergent views; some called for drastic scaling down of bilateral relations with Pakistan until it cracks down on terror elements; others argued for keeping all options open including surgical strikes at militant camps; moderate views suggested creating international pressure on Pakistan rather than resorting to military action.

State Complicity Suspected

Former Chief of the Army Staff, Gen V.P. Malik, observed that all terror sources are originating from Pakistan but “unfortunately in our country counter terrorism strategies have never been implemented efficiently”. Rather, terrorism has always been used more as a tool for electoral advantages. He said, “All terror attacks are originating from Pakistan and blaming only Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) for such attacks will be erroneous. The kind of terror attack we saw in Mumbai is not possible to execute without some official support and complicity from the Pakistani government. There are visible training camps and all attacks are being carried out with meticulous planning.”

According to Malik, there is apparent involvement of ISI, which is the offshoot of the Pakistani Army. Narrating various terror operations like the one in Punjab, Malik suggested that the Mulla-Militant nexus always has a specific purpose as these terrorists are used as an extension of Pakistan’s army operations. He charged that the Pakistan army has an unholy alliance with LeT through ISI. He added, “Terrorists are targeting selected places so that they can damage both our economy as well as our image in the international world”.

Talking about four important steps that India should immediately initiate, he said, “First India should mobilize international opinion towards that fact that Pakistan is an epicenter of all terror activities. Second, India should put international pressure on Pakistan to close down terror camps and masterminds of terror attack. Third mobilize international pressure on Pakistan for bringing down ISI under civilian control. And fourth maintain as minimum bilateral relations as possible until we find some result”. Referring to Defence Minister A.K. Antony’s remarks ruling out the military option he said, “We should not say we are ruling out the military option. At least, there should not have been a public statement.”

Don’t count on the US

On the other hand, Naresh Chandra, former Indian Ambassador to the US expressed the view that any effort to write off entire nation of Pakistan is not a good option because there are secular-minded people in Pakistan who themselves are fed-up with unbridled military rule. He asked, “Do we stop reaching out to such people in Pakistan? Many Pakistanis say that Mumbai attack has hurt their reputation in the international world. After Mumbai attack there is resurgence of great sympathy in Pakistan. Can’t we cash in on it?”

He cautioned further, “Don’t be too optimistic to think that the US will come for any aid. United States is not in a position to declare Pakistan a terrorist state because without Pak help, they can’t do anything in Afghanistan. He also suggested Indian media especially TV channels to stop presenting more belligerent line and give “mature presentation”.

Time for Hard Decisions

Former national security adviser Brajesh Mishra suggested India should persuade Washington to cut off military and financial aid to the Pakistani Army. He said that in the present situation we have no cooperation from Pakistan so we need to take a stand that whether we should take the military route or we should apply diplomatic means. He said that if we approach the international community with a hat in our hand we would not get anything except sympathy. “Unless their (Western powers) strategy is affected by your action, they will not act in your favour. So you need to have something in your pocket with a hat in your hand, only then you will get something.” he said.

Mishra was of the view that instead of ISI, the whole of Pakistan’s military should be placed under civilian control. “There are options available that can make US, UK and other major powers look at the problem from the point of view of India,” Mishra said, advocating a more focused approach for bringing meaningful international pressure on Pakistan that would force it to dismantle terrorist infrastructure.

I.K. Gujral, like any other politician, struck a note of caution and conciliation, saying, “New Delhi should not forget that both India and Pakistan are nuclear powers.” He recalled that when he was the Prime Minister in 1997, former US Ambassador to Pakistan Robert Oakley had conveyed to him through the Indian envoy that Pakistan would use nuclear weapons against India as its first option in the event of a war, if ever.

Failure of US Strategy

Jaswant Singh, the former External Affairs Minister, linked terrorism in South Asia with the failure of the US policy in the region. “The Taliban was a creation of the US. It was established by the Pakistan Army with the assistance of the US,” Singh said.

Strategic expert K. Subramanian wanted India to stay away from military action. He said, “The kind of terror attack we have witnessed in Mumbai may not be the last. We may some more such attacks, even in religious places, because Pakistan wants to provoke us for war.” In his view, Pakistan wants to deploy the military on the Indian border so that the American fight against the taliban gets weakened and make American Army vacates Afghanistan.

The defence analyst said, “We need to make all these things public. We need to make the western world realize that we are not the only victim but also one among them. You are giving them dollars to fight against Taliban but they have something else in their mind. Rest of the world should unite against Pakistan. I know India is under grave and immediate threat of continuous terror attack but we should not get provoked at any cost because once we are provoked it will defeat America’s plan to surge ahead in Afghanistan.” Subramanian suggested a new thinking that goes beyond war options.

(Reporting by Jeevan Prakash)