India was restrained after 26/11 but another attack might invite retaliation: USA

[Lankan Ranger]

India was restrained after 26/11 but another attack might invite retaliation: USA

A fresh Mumbai-style terror attack on India with its strong footprint across the border in Pakistan could result in retaliation from New Delhi, a top Obama Administration official has warned.

"I think were there to be another attack and were there to be similar numbers of civilian casualties, and were there to be any kind of allegations of Pakistani involvement, there would be a lot of domestic pressure for some sort of retaliatory act," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake said.

In an interview to WRVO Radio 'Campbell Conversations' in Syracuse in New York, Blake appreciated India's restraint after the Mumbai terrorist attack when approximately 166 people were killed by an attack carried out by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.

"That was a searing moment for the Indians because it played out on national television for three days and people were able to see for the first time the faces of suicide attackers who came in with the express purpose of killing not only Indian civilians, but some Americans. Six Americans were killed during those attacks," he said.

"The Indians showed a lot of restraint in not retaliating at that time," Blake said.

He said the Pakistanis have been very good about redeploying approximately 140,000 troops from their Indian border to the Afghan border where these sanctuaries are, where a lot of the groups that are attacking US troops based in Afghanistan.

"So it's very important that they maintain that focus and that they, if anything, increase the number of troops going into that area. Were there to be another attack like that, of course they'd have to redeploy many troops back to the Indian border, and that would certainly not be in our interest," he said.

"So we have done a lot to improve our counter-terrorism cooperation and our intelligence cooperation to prevent such an attack from occurring. And it's part of, gain, the widening scope of relations between our two countries," Blake said.

Noting that India has always had a very good non-proliferation record, Blake said the heart of the civil nuclear deal and the reason that other countries may not be eligible for it is that while they haven't signed the NPT, they have a very strong non-proliferation record.

"Our judgment was that it was better to bring them into the non-proliferation system and have them be part of enforcing and strengthening the non-proliferation system, and that's exactly what they've been doing," he said.

India was restrained after 26/11 but another attack might invite retaliation: US

 

[monitor]

India refrained from retaliation because of american pressure and the fear of nuclear retaliation . the same things will happens if any further attack untill both country mainly ensure some parity in conventional war machine .

 

[PlanetWarrior]

USA to India after 26/11 attacks..'don't attack Pakistan since we need them to do our dirty job for us. If you attack Pakistan they will redeply their soldiers to fight you instead of fighting our enemies which they are doing a good job of"

India to USA "Sir ! Yes Sir !"

Shame on India and Congress

 

[Cheetah786]

USA to India after 26/11 attacks..'don't attack Pakistan since we need them to do our dirty job for us. If you attack Pakistan they will redeploy their soldiers to fight you instead of fighting our enemies which they are doing a good job of"

India to USA "Sir ! Yes Sir !"

Shame on India and Congress

India to USA we are going to attack Pakistan USA 2 India if u attack Pakistan they will give a can off A.s.s whopping India to USA thank you''Sir'' .

 

[GUNS-N- ROSES]

all this talk of attack is non sense. india and pakistan are both nuclear powers and india cant risk a war with pakistan. and thats the fact.

unfortunately india doesnt have too many options with regard to pakistan. we have to use covert (non terrorist) and other diplomatic means to deal with pakistan problem.

i think back channel diplomacy with pakistani army is the only solution.

 

[gubbi]

USA to India after 26/11 attacks..'don't attack Pakistan since we need them to do our dirty job for us. If you attack Pakistan they will redeply their soldiers to fight you instead of fighting our enemies which they are doing a good job of"

India to USA "Sir ! Yes Sir !"

Shame on India and Congress

Quite easy to jump on conclusions, right?

I ask you this,

1. Where exactly would Indian forces attack?

2. What would be the targets and why?

3. What would be the objectives - both military and more importantly political?

4. What would be the diplomatic repercussions of a retaliatory attack (defense is different from a retaliatory attack) and how would India handle those?

5. With a mindless retaliatory attack, would it be feasible to antagonize almost an entire civilian population who supported Indians and were equally aghast by the atrocity? Disregard some of the comments on this forum by idiots!

And then there were many other factors to be considered before India could retaliate militarily. It would have been the Lebanon of 2006 - where a hugely advanced military was successfully defended against by the hezzies just because they didnt have any objectives - military or political! IMHO all this talk about nukes and missiles being the saviors of Pakistan is complete malarkey - consider that nationalist jingoism!

 

[Donatello]

All the talk. No real action.


If India had the strength, they would have attacked Pakistan long time ago.

Wake up to the sorry reality, because Pakistan can also retaliate, in kind.

 

[justanobserver]

all this talk of attack is non sense. india and pakistan are both nuclear powers and india cant risk a war with pakistan. and thats the fact.

Nope.

All this talk of "can't risk a war because of nukes" in nonsense. Nukes prevent stuff like full scale invasions, but short skirmishes will happen

(check out the incidents between USSR and China after the Sino Soviet split)

Obama's Wars (by Bob Woodward) gives an insight into what was happening during 26/11. Bush called up MMS.....and the rest is history

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

This topic has been discussed before based on a similar statement by some other official or analyst - no point rehashing the same arguments again.

The fact of the matter is that India is not assured of an easy and quick military victory over Pakistan, and it is not assured of confining any hostilities to a 'limited military conflict'. India would therefore have to plan for a relatively long and expensive, both in men and resources, war with Pakistan, and potentially risk nuclear confrontation if things get out of hand.

So whether the US pressures India or not, India's own internal calculus will likely result in India refraining from military aggression, unless the Indian military acts out of hubris and overconfidence, and/or India determines the significant economic cost of a war with Pakistan to be acceptable.

Thread closed.

 

[MINK]

It would be unfair to say that Pakistan has not done anything to eliminate those terrorists sanctuaries in FATA. But it is certainly not enough to reduce the 'trust deficit' currently exists between India and Pakistan. So, far Pakistani army has refused to attack in North Waziristan, where those militants are regrouping and rearming themselves. It proves Pakistan's unwillingness to crack down on those 'certain groups terrorist outfits' which fulfill their interest in Kashmir conflict!

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

This topic has been discussed before based on a similar statement by some other official or analyst - no point rehashing the same arguments again.

The fact of the matter is that India is not assured of an easy and quick military victory over Pakistan, and it is not assured of confining any hostilities to a 'limited military conflict'. India would therefore have to plan for a relatively long and expensive, both in men and resources, war with Pakistan, and potentially risk nuclear confrontation if things get out of hand.

So whether the US pressures India or not, India's own internal calculus will likely result in India refraining from military aggression, unless the Indian military acts out of hubris and overconfidence, and/or India determines the significant economic cost of a war with Pakistan to be acceptable.

Thread closed.