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| US official holds ISI responsible for Pathankot incident | | | | Though Pakistan Prime Minister,Nawaz Sharif, has assured his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi of his Government's plan to initiate action against those involved in the terror strike at Pathankot airbase in which seven security personnel lost their lives and six terrorists had been eliminated, there are reports indicating that Nawaz Sharif continues to be a pawn in the hands of the Army and the ISI in Pakistan. One had expected that Nawaz Sharif would get an opportunity for mending fences with India after he appointed Lt. General Naseer Janjua as National Security Adviser but things do stand where they were in 1998-1999. During this period former Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee had travelled to Lahore in a bus to shake hands with Nawaz Sharif whom Vajpayee had considered a man of peace keenly awaiting for a situation which could lead to end of hostilities between the two countries. But the Army again intervened and staged not only the Kargil conflict but the Army staged a coup and forced the fall of the Nawaz Sharif Government. Since then there has been bickering and conflicts between India and Pakistan with the result the ties continue to suffer stress and strain. And when Nawaz Sharif was elected as Prime Minister of India had nursed hopes of improved ties between the two sides but New Delhi is yet to forget the 2008 Mumbai mayhem. The recent terrorist strike at the Airforce base in Pathankot seems to have further strained the bilateral relations and that too when Jash-e-Mohammad has claimed responsibility for the attack.Since JeM has been cultivated and helped to grow by the premier Pak spy agency, the ISI, New Delhi seems to have been influenced by reports from Washington which have stated that the Pathankot incident was engineered by the ISI. Pakistan's powerful intelligence agency ISI is behind the attack on Pathankot air base in Punjab using a terrorist group it created 15 years ago, a former top White House official has said.Bruce Riedel, who worked in the National Security Council of the White House and was among the few present at the Bill Clinton-Nawaz Sharif meeting in 1999 during Kargil war, said the attack is designed to prevent any detente between India and Pakistan after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surprise Christmas Day visit to Pakistan. Riedel said the attacks in Pathankot and on the Indian Consulate in Mazar-e Sharif in northern Afghanistan was the handiwork of Pakistani terror group Jaish-e-Muhammad which the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) created 15 years ago. He has quoted "well-informed press and other knowledgeable sources" for his assessment. He has said the ISI is under the generals' command and is composed of army officers, so the spies are controlled by the Pakistani army, which justifies its large budget and nuclear weapons program by citing the Indian menace. It is so because the top functionaries of the Army and the ISI in Pakistan believe that any diminution in tensions with India might risk the army's lock on its control of Pakistan's national security policy. The army continues to distinguish between 'good' terrorists like JeM and LeT and 'bad' terrorists like the Pakistani Taliban. And Islamabad should know it that there is nothing like good or bad terrorist outfits. All terrorists are alike. Other reports indicated that the ISIS and the Taliban activists seem to have been emboldened by the success of six terrorists in drawing blood inside the vast airbase in Pathankot. Yes, the Indian forces too deserve the credit for ensuring safety of sophisticated weapons, war planes and helicopters when the terrorists' plan was to wreck these Air Force assets. Though neither India nor Islamabad have cancelled the proposed foreign secretary level talks it is time the Indian foreign secretary lodges strong protest with his counterpart whenever they meet. Let India agree to continue the process of dialogue but New Delhi should not discuss any other issue except telling Islamabad to end terror because talks and terror cannot coexist. |
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