Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given yet another indication that terrorism will not go unchallenged. It has come at the right time
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit the nail on the head when he said in leh on August 12, that Pakistan, which had lost the ability to wage a conventional war against India, was waging a proxy war through terrorism, which is killing innocent people. He was also right when he stated, “The number of people getting killed through the bullets of the cowards is more than those killed in conventional wars.” Those doubting the latter part of the statement need to recall that as early as December 7, 1999, a report by the External Affairs Ministry had said that while a total of 25,267 persons had been killed in terrorist attacks in the States of Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir in 10 preceding years, 12,316 Indians had lost their lives in the wars the country had fought since 1947.
The figure has risen enormously since then. A newspaper report on September 25, 2008, cited the United States' National Terrorism Centre that, on an average, terrorist violence killed seven persons per day in India in 2007. Stating that terrorists killed a total of 2,300 persons in India that year, it pointed out that India was third on the international terror list in terms of those killed after Iraq (13,611) and Afghanistan (4,637).
As for Pakistan's inability to fight a conventional war despite its use of American aid to stockpile weapons against India, the reason lies in Islamabad's preoccupation with its military operations against its very own Islamist terrorists — except those of the lashkar-e-Tayyeba — who have turned against their sponsors. Not surprisingly, the leT, a spawn of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, spearheads the terror campaign against India, the level of which is liable to go up sharply after the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan when Pakistan will intensify its efforts to oust the elected Government in Kabul and escalate its unconventional war against India to prevent the latter from playing an effective role in countering its designs. It is common knowledge that Pakistan's proxy war against this country through terrorism continues mainly because of the complete failure of the previous Governments in Delhi to frame and implement an effective strategy to counter it. This, in turn, reflects lack of resolution. Experience has shown that meeting violence in kind and terror with terror is a vital element in this strategy. India had done nothing of the sort fearing that any serious retaliation may trigger a full-fledged India-Pakistan war.
Any Pakistani doubt on this must have been removed by India's craven response to the 26/11 outrage, particularly its humble reversal of its stand that there would be no dialogue without the perpetrators being brought to book. Hence, it has continued with its proxy war. Prime Minister Modi's speech at leh suggests that he has seen through the hollowness of Pakistan responding to Indian retaliation with a conventional war and that while exploring all avenues for peace, he will not let Pakistan's proxy war unchallenged.
The first option before India will be launching its unconventional war against Pakistan and intensifying it to compel Islamabad to give up its game. This will, in turn, require a clearly defined strategy and the deployment of highly competent Special Forces. For that, this country's various Special Forces outfits, which operate under different organisations, need to be brought under a single authority and provided with adequate logistics, communication resources and so on to maximise their capabilities. Since intelligence collection and operational coordination are key elements in all counter-terrorism strategies, a key role has to be played by the National Security Adviser who is in a position that provides a bird's eye view of the entire security scene. Significantly, the present incumbent has wide-ranging experience both in strategic and operational roles, which is bound to be most useful.