Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Pak strikes again' that was published in Newsband

Pak strikes again

Kargil, Mumbai and now Pathankot. Pakistan's Army has again launched a well-planned war with India struggling to restrict the damage. It is unbelievable that the Pak PM was not aware of the attack. Even after 60 hours of the ongoing security operation at Pathankot, there has been no direct phone call from Sharif to Modi, or from the Pakistani NSA to his Indian counterpart, expressing their condemnation. This, despite the meeting between the two NSAs in Bangkok a month ago. India should hold the Pak Government responsible for the attack. Why make a distinction between the civilian Government and the Army?

Thus another challenge has been thrown up by the terrorist attack on the Pathankot air force base. While carrying on diplomatic engagement with Pakistan, India needs a firm strategy to deal with terrorist threats. The Indian government should come up with a national security strategy that spells out the command and control structures for meeting eventualities such as terror strikes.

The recurring terrorist attacks are not just a humiliation for the country but also a nightmare that is repeatedly disrupting daily routines and taking away precious lives. The very foundations of India’s security establishment need to be reformed. It is clear that intelligence inputs, such as the one about Pathankot, are not treated with enough seriousness.

These terrorists are not 'non-state' actors. They are indoctrinated, trained and equipped by the Pakistani army and ISI. Talking to a weak civilian Government is pointless. They carry no weight in Pakistani foreign policy. India rightly sees J&K as an integral part of India. The Pakistanis want all of J&K by force. There is no other option but to teach the Pakistani army another military lesson.

It is sad that even the present government like the previous one is miserably failing to protect the lives of army men. There have been no long time strategy as far as our nation's is concerned. The national security issue is to be considered by the government and all the political parties in the interest of national security and development. The government and political parties should come together to frame a doctrine to defend India and to formulate a programme to safeguard our citizens and establishments against attack by terrorists or states.