Within 10 days of terrorists from Pakistan hitting Gurdaspur, a Punjab town in close proximity of Jammu, Pakistani terrorists attacked a BSF vehicle in Udhampur, which is on the Jammu-Srinagar highway and is the headquarters of the Army’s Northern Command, on Wednesday. These incidents have occurred in approximately three weeks of the meeting of the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan in the Russian city of Ufa which was focused on discussing the question of terrorism.
The national security advisers of the two countries are expected to meet in New Delhi later this month in line with the understanding reached between the PMs, who will probably talk to one another again in September on the sidelines of the UN annual session, depending on signals emanating from their NSAs. It should be noted that the situation in Udhampur may have turned out to be quite dangerous if the terrorists had attacked with grenades and their AK-47 assault rifles any transport ferrying the Amarnath shrine yatris, whose route passes through the garrison town of Udhampur.
As in the case of 26/11 in Mumbai, a Pakistani terrorist has been caught alive with the help of villagers he had taken hostage. His statements suggest that his mission was to go on a killing spree. A repeat of Mumbai — even in the mountains — is obviously not intended to bode well for the future of India-Pakistan relations. It is the military and its ISI Directorate, which runs and controls the jihadists, especially those taking aim at India, which are typically against the normalisation of ties, while the elected civilian side of the state is said not to be. Thus, relations with Pakistan always seems to have a troubling element of dichotomy, and this is the experience of most countries, including those like the US which are often obliged to mollycoddle Islamabad.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s, and his party’s, stated view, born out of rhetoric against the previous UPA government, has been that “talks and terror” cannot go together. However, as of now, signs are that the NSA talks are not being cancelled. This is just as well. In fact, it seldom helps to call off diplomatic contact.
