January 22, 2025

Another attack
Pakistan has done it again. It has managed to get trained and armed infiltrators into Indian territory and made them strike at the Army HQ in Uri in the Baramulla district of Jammu & Kashmir. This is in addition to the continued disturbance Pakistan-backed miscreants have been creating in the valley in the wake of Burhan Wani’s encounter. All this reinforces the view that Pakistan is not interested in a dialogue. It is quite comfortable with the proxy war it is fighting with India. It thinks that it is causing India enough damage without soiling its hands and by engaging fidayeens whom it conveniently brands “non-state actors.”

No effective measures taken on intel inputs
The latest attack on the Uri HQ raises several questions. When Pathankot was attacked, it was revealed that the border was porous and needed to be sealed properly. Several weak areas, like riverines, were identified. Yet, there are reasons to believe that the present incursion took place from Salamabad Nullah in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK). How can this be allowed to happen? More so, when intelligence inputs have hinted that more attacks like Pathankot were in the offing.

Lax security
Further, Uri HQ was identified in intel reports as a prime target. So why was security so lax there? It is obvious that terror modules do not just cross over from a weak border point and immediately proceed to attack a target. They regroup in Indian territory and then cause the damage. Hence, there is obviously a time lag and there must be several people helping them this side of the border. It is a complete failure of both the intelligence and the security apparatus that an attack of this magnitude was not foiled. The worst thing is that one terror module is still said to be at large and is believed to be proceeding to Srinagar.

Seal and secure the border
The Army has asked the government for permission to make cross border strikes. While that may be needed in certain circumstances, it is not urgent. What is urgent is to secure and seal the border effectively and activate a network of informers who can identify infiltrators. The Army needs to deploy, or acquire, all available equipment, including drones with cameras and images from satellites among other things, to prevent infiltration.

Acquire expertise in counter-terrorism
If India considers Pakistan to be the number one terrorism exporting state, isn’t it urgent that India acquires the expertise to be the number one country to counter such terrorist activities? But the Indian government has been lax on this front. The time is ripe to invest in technology to combat terrorist activities. Expert help, probably from the Israelis, needs to be taken. Apart from diplomatic efforts at international forums, India needs to do all to secure itself against terror exports from the hostile neighbor. War can only be the last option – terrorism must be fought with modern, technologically advanced counter-terrorism methods.