Zarvan
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Sunday, August 02, 2015
By : ET
The terrorist attack in Punjab's Gurdaspur district by Pakistani gunmen on July 27 is a painful reminder of the ever-present danger on India's vast western frontier.
The terrorist attack in Punjab's Gurdaspur district by Pakistani gunmen on July 27 is a painful reminder of the ever-present danger on India's vast western frontier. The audacity of the strike, which claimed seven Indian lives, should be a spur for domestic and foreign policy reforms by the Narendra Modi government.
Although the international border with Pakistan is settled (unlike the Line of Control that divides Jammu & Kashmir from Azad Kashmir), the loopholes along it present a prime vulnerability. In the portion which separates Indian Punjab from Pakistani Punjab alone, there are reported to be 200 "small to big gaps" for Pakistani infiltrators like the three Punjabi-speaking Fedayeen (Islamist guerillas) who sneaked into Gurdaspur. These chinks have to be plugged as well as the difficult riverine terrain would permit.
Further south on the international border, we have Rajasthan and Gujarat which adjoin Pakistan's Sindh province. The latest attack should be a wakeup call to fortify our defences in these states too, especially Gujarat which is Modi's home state and bull's eye for jihadists.
Many Bones of Contention ::
The political message from the Pakistani terrorists who raided a police station in Gurdaspur and fought for 11 hours is that Kashmir is not the only bone of contention.
Islamist extremists treat India as a whole as Dar-al-Kufr or Dar-al-Harb (land of infidels or land of war), which must be recovered back into the Islamic fold of medieval times through the force of gun.
Cliches that the Gurdaspur attack was meant to derail peace talks between India and Pakistan miss the ideological motives that drive the terrorists and their handlers in the Pakistani military, who do not believe in compromise or negotiation with kafirs (infidels).
Complacency following a relative decline in infiltration and shootings outside J&K in recent times has been shattered by the Gurdaspur attack, which is an omen of the war returning to haunt India.
Therefore, the levels of vigilance have to be switched back on not just the 2,900-km-long international border but in all populated urban centres.
The Gurdaspur attack was notable for the autonomy exercised by the Punjab police's Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) team, which refused the assistance of the Indian Army and the National Security Guard. The Modi government's preference for decentralised counter-terrorism was on display as Punjab's top cop was in constant touch with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.
Yet, as veterans of counter-terrorism like KPS Gill have argued, the capacity of our state police forces to tackle hardened and sophisticated terrorists has fallen considerably. Since the Modi government jettisoned the idea of a National Counter Terrorism Centre, which invited strident objections from state governments, the Centre must now empower and help state governments on a war footing to render local security forces capable of swiftly neutralising jihadists.
It is in training and preparedness that India's security imperatives intersect with its foreign policy. The SWAT team that prevailed over Pakistani terrorists in Gurdaspur was trained by Israeli intelligence.
Coordinate & Sabotage ::
Notwithstanding our differences with Israel, we must acknowledge that it alone has the willingness to pass on rare skills in counter-terrorism that can save the day when jihadists strike again. After Gurdaspur, Modi's desire to deepen the strategic cooperation with Israel (he will be the first Indian PM to visit that country) makes even more eminent sense.
Besides Israel, India must enter a deeper intelligence alliance with Afghanistan and Iran — countries that border Pakistan and which are also at the receiving end of Pakistan-sponsored Sunni jihadists.
The anti-India 'Punjabi Taliban' and Punjab-centred jihadist groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) are networked with the Pashtun Taliban, Al Qaeda and, of late, with the Islamic State (ISIS), which are motivated by hatred of the Afghan and Iranian governments.
A trilateral counter-terrorism front involving Afghanistan, Iran and India should be a key objective of Modi's foreign policy, particularly in the context of a recently discovered ISIS roadmap to unite varied strands of jihadists in south Asia and launch a war in India leading to "apocalyptic confrontation" with the US.
Such a trilateral front is easier prescribed than achieved, given that Iran and Afghanistan often diverge strategically, and also because Israel and Iran are sworn enemies. Yet, unifying all these anti-jihadist players is the only long-term preventive and pre-emptive option.
The Modi government's ambitious objective should be to offensively break up terrorists before they enter India.
For that to happen, a regional alliance that monitors and warns member countries about the stew cooking in Pakistan, and then coordinates to sabotage it, is indispensable.
(The writer is a professor and dean at the Jindal School of International Affairs)
By : ET
The terrorist attack in Punjab's Gurdaspur district by Pakistani gunmen on July 27 is a painful reminder of the ever-present danger on India's vast western frontier.
The terrorist attack in Punjab's Gurdaspur district by Pakistani gunmen on July 27 is a painful reminder of the ever-present danger on India's vast western frontier. The audacity of the strike, which claimed seven Indian lives, should be a spur for domestic and foreign policy reforms by the Narendra Modi government.
Although the international border with Pakistan is settled (unlike the Line of Control that divides Jammu & Kashmir from Azad Kashmir), the loopholes along it present a prime vulnerability. In the portion which separates Indian Punjab from Pakistani Punjab alone, there are reported to be 200 "small to big gaps" for Pakistani infiltrators like the three Punjabi-speaking Fedayeen (Islamist guerillas) who sneaked into Gurdaspur. These chinks have to be plugged as well as the difficult riverine terrain would permit.
Further south on the international border, we have Rajasthan and Gujarat which adjoin Pakistan's Sindh province. The latest attack should be a wakeup call to fortify our defences in these states too, especially Gujarat which is Modi's home state and bull's eye for jihadists.
Many Bones of Contention ::
The political message from the Pakistani terrorists who raided a police station in Gurdaspur and fought for 11 hours is that Kashmir is not the only bone of contention.
Islamist extremists treat India as a whole as Dar-al-Kufr or Dar-al-Harb (land of infidels or land of war), which must be recovered back into the Islamic fold of medieval times through the force of gun.
Cliches that the Gurdaspur attack was meant to derail peace talks between India and Pakistan miss the ideological motives that drive the terrorists and their handlers in the Pakistani military, who do not believe in compromise or negotiation with kafirs (infidels).
Complacency following a relative decline in infiltration and shootings outside J&K in recent times has been shattered by the Gurdaspur attack, which is an omen of the war returning to haunt India.
Therefore, the levels of vigilance have to be switched back on not just the 2,900-km-long international border but in all populated urban centres.
The Gurdaspur attack was notable for the autonomy exercised by the Punjab police's Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) team, which refused the assistance of the Indian Army and the National Security Guard. The Modi government's preference for decentralised counter-terrorism was on display as Punjab's top cop was in constant touch with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.
Yet, as veterans of counter-terrorism like KPS Gill have argued, the capacity of our state police forces to tackle hardened and sophisticated terrorists has fallen considerably. Since the Modi government jettisoned the idea of a National Counter Terrorism Centre, which invited strident objections from state governments, the Centre must now empower and help state governments on a war footing to render local security forces capable of swiftly neutralising jihadists.
It is in training and preparedness that India's security imperatives intersect with its foreign policy. The SWAT team that prevailed over Pakistani terrorists in Gurdaspur was trained by Israeli intelligence.
Coordinate & Sabotage ::
Notwithstanding our differences with Israel, we must acknowledge that it alone has the willingness to pass on rare skills in counter-terrorism that can save the day when jihadists strike again. After Gurdaspur, Modi's desire to deepen the strategic cooperation with Israel (he will be the first Indian PM to visit that country) makes even more eminent sense.
Besides Israel, India must enter a deeper intelligence alliance with Afghanistan and Iran — countries that border Pakistan and which are also at the receiving end of Pakistan-sponsored Sunni jihadists.
The anti-India 'Punjabi Taliban' and Punjab-centred jihadist groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) are networked with the Pashtun Taliban, Al Qaeda and, of late, with the Islamic State (ISIS), which are motivated by hatred of the Afghan and Iranian governments.
A trilateral counter-terrorism front involving Afghanistan, Iran and India should be a key objective of Modi's foreign policy, particularly in the context of a recently discovered ISIS roadmap to unite varied strands of jihadists in south Asia and launch a war in India leading to "apocalyptic confrontation" with the US.
Such a trilateral front is easier prescribed than achieved, given that Iran and Afghanistan often diverge strategically, and also because Israel and Iran are sworn enemies. Yet, unifying all these anti-jihadist players is the only long-term preventive and pre-emptive option.
The Modi government's ambitious objective should be to offensively break up terrorists before they enter India.
For that to happen, a regional alliance that monitors and warns member countries about the stew cooking in Pakistan, and then coordinates to sabotage it, is indispensable.
(The writer is a professor and dean at the Jindal School of International Affairs)
