INTRODUCTION
On 4 April the Guardian newspaper of the UK had come out with a report with the headline “Indian government ordered killings in Pakistan, intelligence officials claim”. The article went on to state that this was “a wider strategy to eliminate terrorists living on foreign soil” and backed this by ‘interviews and documents shared by Pakistani investigators’ and said that this is ‘part of an emboldened approach to national security after 2019”.
“After Pulwama, the approach changed to target the elements outside the country before they are able to launch an attack or create any disturbance. We could not stop the attacks because ultimately their safe havens were in Pakistan, so we had to get to the source,” the Guardian quoted one Indian intelligence operative as saying.
The report said it had seen evidence provided by Pakistani security agencies, and noted that Indian officers confirmed the new policy of assassinating enemies and dissidents on foreign soil. The report also cited unnamed senior officials from two separate intelligence agencies in Pakistan as saying that Islamabad suspected India’s involvement in ‘almost 20 killings since 2020 carried out by unknown gunmen in Pakistan’.
INDIAN STATEMENTS
The Ministry of External Affairs has categorically denied the report by The Guardian, reiterating an earlier statement made by Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, affirming that targeted killings in other countries were “not the policy of the government of India” and that they were part of an orchestrated attempt at “false and malicious anti-India propaganda”.
While speaking to News18 on 05 April the Defence Minister Shri Rajnath Singh said; “If any terrorist from a neighbouring country tries to disturb India or carry out terrorist activities here, he will be given a fitting reply. If he escapes to Pakistan we will go to Pakistan and kill him there”. He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made it clear this policy was “right” and that “India has the capability to do so. Pakistan has also started understanding this.
However, the Guardian misread his remarks and, in a follow, up article took it as an affirmation that the government carried out extrajudicial killings which it never resorted to in the advent of the Mumbai, Pathankot, Uri and Pulwama incidents. In the latter two India resorted to surgical strikes targeting specific terrorists’ camps without causing any collateral damage.
PAKISTAN’S RESPONSE
The Pakistan Foreign Office in a statement has said that “India’s assassination of Pakistani nationals on Pakistani soil was a clear violation of the country’s sovereignty and a breach of the UN Charter”. The Pakistani statement of course does not disclose the fact that most of the terrorists killed have been involved in acts of terrorism and that Pakistan has denied sheltering them.
Incidentally, Dawood Abraham continues to live in Karachi and Osama Bin Laden was targeted in Abbottabad by the US on 02 May 2011 at a time when Pakistan was partnering the US and receiving a large amount of aid from them in the ‘war against global terrorism’.
At that time President Obama said, “Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader; he was a mass murderer of Muslims. Indeed, al Qaeda has slaughtered scores of Muslims in many countries, including our own. So, his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and dignity.”
The Pakistan Foreign Office in a statement has condemned what it describes as “provocative remarks” made by the Indian Defence Minister. However, they remain quiet using terrorism as an instrument of state policy. The use of proxies was first witnessed in October 1947 in J&K, during Operation Gibraltar in 1965 and thereafter post the humiliating defeat suffered by Pakistan in 1971 they focused on deterring India with nuclear weapons and ‘bleeding India with a thousand cuts’. This doctrine was attempted during the Punjab insurgency and then in Kashmir insurgency under General Zia ul Haq with the code name ‘Operation Topac’.
The facts are that all the terrorists were being sheltered in Pakistan by the ISI and their deaths obviously point to the fact there are elements within Pakistan who do not support them and have eliminated them. Pakistan is also suffering from a huge challenge of militancy from the TTP who are supported by the Taliban. Unfortunately, the Taliban regime coming to power in Kabul has not danced to Pakistan’s tune.
Today, faced with increasing terrorists strikes within Pakistan and the elimination of its home bred terrorists, Pakistan needs to introspect. Their fault lines are increasing being widened and exposed and their security lapses within the intelligence and law-enforcement agencies are more visible. Pakistan is seen by many to be in a state of collapse, a country in an abyss. This has been compounded by a declining economy and poor governance.
THE WORLD TODAY
This latest development highlights the complex dynamics and ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan at a time when the world is facing increasing threats from terrorism.
Pakistan itself has lately carried out “intelligence-based” aerial strikes inside Afghanistan to punish “terrorists” responsible for killing hundreds of civilians and security forces in cross-border raids. On 16 January Iran had carried out unilateral strikes in Pakistan, against Pakistani based terrorists, forty-eight-hours after the attack, Pakistan conducted retaliatory strikes inside South Eastern Iran, targeting what it described as terrorist hideouts.
The Hamas attack launched on Israel on 07 October and the war that Israel has waged on the Gaza Strip ever since which has resulted in unprecedented collateral damage and the recent ISIS attack In Moscow which led to the death of over 130 innocent civilians has once again shown the havoc terrorists can wreck on society. Terrorism, today, has taken such a formidable form, that its effects are visible across geographies and in the virtual space.
Terrorism remains a diverse and dynamic threat in a volatile, complex, uncertain and ambiguous environment. The threats include ideologically motivated violent extremists, and a complex mix of nationalist, ethnically motivated, groups and individuals who are prone to radicalisation.
Technological change is accelerating, with cyber and drone technologies all contributing to the constantly shifting landscape. Technology is also impacting global terror financing. The increasing use of virtual assets, encrypted messaging and untraceable cryptocurrency are some of the emerging fields that terrorists are utilising.
CONCLUSION
The statement by the defence minister and India’s surgical strikes following Uri and at Balakot are a signal of its strategic intent, ability and willingness to respond strongly to terror attacks carried out on its soil. Pakistan needs to therefore ensure that cross-border terrorism is not at the forefront of its policy.
The larger question remains is the manner in which elimination of terrorism and terrorists should be approached when there is a country harbouring terrorist on their soil. Eliminating terrorist networks require a re-examination of strategies.
To quote General Ata Hasnain “in hybrid warfare of this kind, information, statements, media commentaries, and analyses all add up to create a grey cloud of doubt and uncertainty. Grey should be responded to only by grey, never by black and white. That is almost a rule of Grey Zone Warfare”.
Use of force has been witnessed in the US led coalitions intervention in Afghanistan Post 9/11 and by Israel both in Lebanon against the PLO and currently in Gaza. Though they will be critics who will state that unilateral actions erode moral capital, weakens democracy. But the fact is killing of innocent civilians by terrorists cannot be tolerated.
The article in the Guardian written in today’s world where terrorism is a global phenomenon causing misery to millions of people, therefore condemning the death of terrorists stands out as a contradiction. To quote Leonard Cohen “I don’t believe that this world can afford pacifism. I think pacifism delights the hearts of killers.”
Terrorism remains one of the most significant threats to peace, security, stability and progress. There is thus a need to build global consensus to defeat and degrade terrorism we cannot afford to “delight the heart of the killers”.