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| ISI-Terror Link: Krishna, Menon, Pillai hitting nail on the head | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, July 21: New Delhi has, it appears, made up its mind to take on and expose Pakistan and convince the international community of the need to put pressure on Islamabad so that it not only brings to justice terrorists who masterminded and executed the terrorist attacks in Mumbai on November 26, 2008, but also destroys all the terror-related instrumentalities. Besides, it seems that New Delhi has resolved to adopt a definite policy to make the international community realize that there are official agencies in Pakistan such as Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) which are directly funding and supporting the various terrorist outfits and using them against India.
The most inspiring aspect of the whole situation is that those who really matter and those who manage the foreign affairs, particularly as far as Pakistan and Afghanistan are concerned, as also those dealing with the country's internal security have, of late, started speaking in the same candid language. There appears no confusion whatever in what they have said publicly in and outside India during the fast few days, especially on and after July 16. This indeed is a good omen.
Last week, it all started with the Union Home Secretary GK Pillai's public statement that behind the Mumbai terrorist attacks was the ISI and various other state actors. In fact, participating in the Idea Programme of The Indian Express, Pillai had said: "The real sense that has come out from Headley's interrogation is that the ISI was... literally controlling and coordinating it (the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack) from the beginning till the end." He had made this bold statement just on the eve of the Indo-Pak foreign minister-level talks - statement that evoked a very sharp reaction from the Pakistani circles, including the Pakistani press, as also from the Kashmiri extremists. So mush so, Pillai was equated with terrorists such as Hafiz Saeed and Syed Salahuddin. New Delhi, the Congress party, and, in effect, the whole of the nation stood solidly behind Pillai.
That what Pillai had stated was not an off-the-cuff remark and that it was consistent with the policy New Delhi had seemingly evolved to counter Pakistan became evident when the otherwise very soft-spoken foreign Minister S. M. Krishna took the same line during his over sever-hour-long talks with his Pakistani counterpart. He insisted on action against those, whosoever they were and howsoever powerful they were. Which means the South and the North Blocks, which house the offices of foreign and home ministries, had a perfect understanding between them. No confusion at all. Leave aside that unfortunate part when Krishna didn't rebuff the uncouth Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi when he used provocative language against Pillai.
The stand of Krishna has not changed. He took on July 20 the same line at Kabul during his bilateral talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other world leaders who had gathered there to participate in an international conference organized to discuss ways and means that could stabilize the strife-torn and ravaged Afghanistan; that could enable the Afghan leadership to manage the country's affairs itself. There at Kabul Krishna not only urged the international community to defeat comprehensively terrorism of all varieties, but also said: "Terrorism cannot be compartmentalized. Today, one cannot distinguish between al-Qaeda and plethora of terrorist organizations, which have imbibed the goals and techniques of al-Qaeda. It is, therefore, essential to ensure that support, sustenance and sanctuaries for terrorist organizations from outside Afghanistan are ended forthwith." Obviously, he hinted at Islamabad and he made this significant statement in the presence Qureshi.
What he said at Kabul was significant. Even more significant perhaps was what National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon said the same day, of course, in Delhi while speaking at the annual Observer Research Foundation-Heritage Foundation Dialogue. The time was perfect. He not only practically endorsed what Pillai had said, but also went a few steps further. He told the serious gathering at the Observer Research Foundation that the link between terrorist organizations and elements in the Pakistani establishment was "getting stronger" and would not be broken soon."
He also told the distinguished gathering: "For us, it has been brought home most recently by what we learn from Headley which confirmed many of the things we knew before. And it is really the links with the official establishment and with the existing intelligence agencies. It is that nexus which makes it a much harder phenomenon for us to deal with... unfortunately, what we know and what we see suggests that these links or nexus would not be broken soon. If anything, it is getting stronger…We know what needs to be done and we also know who is responsible for terrorism... we have a much clearer picture today of the infrastructure of terrorism, the ecosystem that supports terrorism which... affects the entire world. "
Shivshankar Menon saying these things assumed greater significance because he is National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister. What he said at the Observer Research Foundation must mean that he had the backing of the Prime Minister. That means the Prime Minister's Office, the Foreign office and the home ministry are one as far as their stand on Pakistan is concerned. There is no doubt that the frustrated Pakistan is now feeling the heat. It is hoped that they would continue to work in unison and not make contradictory statements on any of the issue relating to our internal and external security and the country's territorial integrity.
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