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| Pak offensive against Taliban calls for upgrading security in India | | | Following Islamabad's decision to
continue its operations against terror
ists hiding in Pakistan, in areas on Afghan-Pak border and those infiltrating into Pakistan from Afghanistan New Delhi is under pressure to upgrade India's security grid not only on the LOC and the IB but also within the country. In what appears to be a major shift in policy, Pakistan has decided to go after all militant groups in its unfolding operation in the North Waziristan tribal area, including insurgents who target neighbouring Afghanistan. Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has stated that the military offensive in North Waziristan would target the Haqqani network, a group affiliated with the Afghan Taliban that has been based in the tribal area for more than three decades. The Haqqanis are seen by the US and Afghan governments as one of the main threats to stability in Afghanistan. Pakistani troops have been instructed to eliminate all sorts of terrorists from various areas within the country without any exception, according to Asif. If there are exceptions made, then the purpose of this operation will be defeated. It has to be without making any differentiation between Pak Taliban and Afghan Taliban, or good Taliban and bad Taliban. Pakistan has long been accused by neighbours and US officials of backing jihadist groups as its proxies in Afghanistan and India. If the Pakistani Army carries out sustained and multidimensional operations against terrorists it may force some of these rebel groups to find escape route to India by trying to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir. It is in this context that New Delhi is rightly watching the situation in Pakistan and act accordingly if some terrorists attempted at infiltrating into Jammu and Kashmir. Despite the fact that senior functionaries of the Indian Army rule out the possibility of Taliban trying to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir senior officials of intelligence agencies do not rule the possibility of small groups of terrorists attempting at infiltrating into Jammu and Kashmir. By doing so these terrorists would manage to ward of death threats from the Pak Army on one hand and on the other lend assistance to militants, operating in Jammu and Kashmir, in raising the level of violence in the northern state. Kashmiri separatists are likely to welcome these terrorists so that they (separatists) could enforce their call for poll boycott during the ensuing Assembly election. But there are others who do not agree with those who fear large-scale ingress of terrorists into Jammu and Kashmir on the plea that when the Pak Army has announced to intensify their operations against the terrorists of all hues Pak soldiers, deployed on the LOC and the IB in Jammu and Kashmir, may not help them in crossing into India's northern state.In the light of this development there is need for upgrading the security grid in the country, especially on the LOC and the IB in Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmir separatists are on the verge of losing their relevance after their repeated calls for poll boycott in the previous elections, right from 1996 to 2008 besides the recent Lok Sabha poll, had evoked quite poor response. And if these separatists manage to enforce their call for poll boycott during the ensuing Assembly election with the help of Taliban and other terrorists from Pakistan and Afghanistan it may infuse fresh life in those who ar e on the other side of the fence. In fact if the security scenario in Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed marked improvement during the last several years it is the result of the success achieved by the Indian troops in foiling repeated ingress bids by militants. On occasions the Indian troops had no other option but to retaliate with force and fury whenever Pakistani troops resorted to ceasefire violations for carving out a passage for militants to sneak into Jammu and Kashmir. Hence, reducing ingress level to zero can be treated as key to peace in Jammu and Kashmir. |
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