Lessons from Uri

The September 18 attacks on the Indian army camp at Uri and subsequent infiltration attempts point to a new threat — the alarming ease with which Pakistan-sponsored terror groups have been able to penetrate Indian security installations. It is indeed surprising that India has not learnt from its intelligence failings after terrorists stormed the Pathankot airforce base in January this year. By all reliable accounts, the Jaish-e-Mohammad is the mastermind of both the Uri and Pathankot operations. Security analysts point out that JeM is the creation of Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence. Therefore, it will not do for the Pakistan government to disown responsibility for such acts of terror.

It is time that the world, and the US in particular, acknowledged that non-state actors work as extensions of the Pakistan state, and its army in particular, both in India and Afghanistan. India should leave no stone unturned in reiterating this link at the forthcoming UN General Assembly meet. It hardly helps that the Pakistani establishment is a divided house, with the army and the ISI overwhelming, if not actually deciding, the government’s agendas. This makes Pakistan a particularly difficult proposition to engage with. Yet, the task before India is to act as a responsible global power rather than consider precipitate action. Such a response will only work to Pakistan’s advantage, as it will internationalise the problem by drawing China’s help and, in the process, help Pakistan seek broader support for its claims on Kashmir. India has been through worse provocations than this — the 2001 Parliament attacks and the 2008 Mumbai blasts. It had won global respect for exercising restraint then. It needs to draw on that goodwill.

But even before India deals with Pakistan as such, it needs to come to grips with its intelligence failures. These may indeed be linked to the rapidly deteriorating situation in Kashmir, more so in the two months following the death of militant Burhan Wani. During this period, there have been more than 50 deaths in the Valley, a number of youth losing their eyes to pellets shot by Indian security forces and, by and large, a growing alienation of the population from the political system. This alienation is likely to have impacted intelligence gathering as well, with the resentment also becoming fertile ground for terror groups to gain sympathy, recruits and support. Kashmir’s tilt towards radicalism, therefore, reflects a failure of the Indian state. Its descent into chaos is best halted not just by reining in Pakistan, but by addressing the socio-economic aspirations of the people in a manner that can whittle away the support of radical groups. This calls for a new political discourse and consensus on Kashmir — one that is driven by pragmatic rather than ultra-nationalist considerations. Sabre-rattling against our neighbour makes for good optics, but there’s got to be an engagement plan. Bilateral trade, tourism and economic exchanges should not suffer. Terror feeds on isolationism and fear; it abhors any semblance of normalcy.

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