In my opinion India certainly has the capability to eliminate Hafiz Saeed but what does this achieve. If RAW eliminates Hafiz Saeed than the world's largest democracy is engaging in extra judicial killing in a foreign country, India still does not possess overwhelming proof which can tie Hafiz Saeed to the bomb blasts in India. This will certainly not play in India's favour and that is why your policy makers have not taken this route. As far as Daud Ibrahim is concerned, their is no evidence to support that he is based in Pakistan.
From what i have heard and read, India has good covert capabilities and we can see the fruits of their hard work in Balochistan. But for argument sake, lets assume that India engages in covert operations and starts eliminating targets inside Pakistan. This means India is indirectly declaring war against Pakistan, do you honestly believe the ISI will not retaliate. I can assure you if the situation reaches what you are advocating, than ISI will reply back with all its might. ISI is no tin pot intelligence agency like the Arabs have and RAW is no Mossad.
Rebuttal:
1) Covert ops will certainly bring down the number of attacks down; If a goon is afraid of his life, do you think he will dare to put his nose?
2) Israel recently took out a Hamas leader in Dubai in a daring operation. Every country shouted at Israel, but it all eventually died out
3) Russian KGB do this on a daily basis; They took out their own spy in London using radio active material
4)CIA is a grand daddy of Covert ops; They have done it every where - Cuba, Iran, Iraq..... countless numer of times. But nothing will be known outside
5) Mi5 do covert with very close interaction with CIA.
6) India has the right to protect its citizens. India has very legitimate targets - Terrorists who have done heinous crimes - Dawood Ibrhahim, LeT chief, Ilyas Kasmiri etc. But Indians don't have the political will- that is a different matter.
7) A true covert ops will never reveal the source. All of them are done using Insiders. Exception is Israel who uses all sorts of nationalities.
8) RAW's Afghan capabilities are blown out of proportion. Recently a senior RAW Mole defected to US. US knows every RAW move including their adventures in Afgan
9)It is a known fact that RAW is no match for ISI and not as determined as ISI. ISI is created and trained by CIA ands they are very professional in their work.
10) Covert Ops is a great tool to curb terrorism. Instead of whining like a cry baby to every nation in the world, India should take a page out ISI book
