India hardens its position against Pakistan

Mumbai blasts shocked the whole world in some way or other. After a series of attacks on India, India is finally taking a crucial step to eliminate terrorists from the world. As many previous terrorist attacks on India have been linked to terrorist organizations like Lashkar-e-Taiba etc which are formally based in Pakistan occupied Kashmir, or Pakistan itself. Some recent blasts that were linked to LeT were the 29th October 2005 Delhi blasts, the 2006 Varanasi blasts etc.

While no one has claimed responsibility for the Mumbai blasts on 11th July 2006, these are being linked to LeT and SIMI. Ofcourse this is not the first time that India had a terrorist attack on its land, and every time something like this happened, India was quick in condemning the terrorist organizations and very diplomatically named these organizations, but peace process with Pakistan continued. However, probably for the first time ever, India has hardened its position against Pakistan. India has said that the peace process cannot be continued until Pakistan is serious about curbing terrorism. BBC News reports:

The mood against Pakistan is hardening in India

The statement by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the peace process between India and Pakistan cannot progress unless Islamabad cracks down on terrorism represents a hardening of Delhi's position.

For the first time since Tuesday's serial bombings in Mumbai, the Indian government has pointed a finger at its long-time rival.

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But now Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has publicly suggested that the blasts were carried out by militant cells supported from within Pakistan.

No group has been as yet named as having carried out the coordinated attacks on Mumbai's commuter railway system last Tuesday.

But many believe that only a few groups have the expertise to execute them.

The key suspect is the Lashkar-e-Toiba, a Kashmiri militant group based in Pakistan and banned by both countries.

The group has been blamed for similar attacks in the past - in particular an attack on India's parliament in 2001 that brought both countries to the brink of war.

Economic Times reports about congratulatory calls made from Karachi to Dhaka right after the blasts:

Just after the Mumbai blasts, a call from Karachi to Dhaka said “mubarakan, mubarakan (congratulations)” in a mission-accomplished tone.

Around the same time, a call from a PCO near Juhu in Mumbai went to an anxious “mother” in Karachi. The caller assured his mother that he was alright (salamat) but could not disclose his location and, saying that he could not talk at length, hung up.

Now the question is, how has it changed India. India which has always been affected by terrorism, has for the first time directly named some elements of Pakistan in these attacks. This is a bold step by India because never before India did something like this keeping the world peace in mind. However, it looks like these blasts have so far made India respond in the same way as America did to 9/11 attacks. America launched "War against terrorism" after 9/11, and freed Afghanistan from the Taliban power. Result: Afghanistan is no longer a terrorists controlled country. India detained about 350 people for questioning about the Mumbai attacks, which shows India is REALLY serious this time. India's Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, gave a statement just like American president, saying that India will win war against terror:

Saluting the people of Mumbai and Srinagar for the speed with which they have returned to normal life, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday night said the war against terror will be won and "no one can make India kneel".

"This is not the first time that the enemies of our nation have tried to undermine our peace and prosperity. These elements have not yet understood that we Indians can stand united. That we will stand united. They have not yet understood that we will never let them win," he said in an address to the nation over television.

That and India naming Pakistan, it looks like India is ready for some hard action, as in not really attacking Pakistan, but pressurizing Pakistan to start cooperating with the world. Right after the blasts, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Kasuri linked the blasts in Mumbai to the "lack of resolution" of the Jammu & Kashmir dispute. Now one may ask what do India-Pakistan relations have to do with blasts in Mumbai. Varnam reports:

Last September Israel withdrew from the Gaza strip and Gaza became the first completely independent Palestinian territory. The Palestinians fired rockets from Gaza, and then later dug a tunnel from there and kidnapped an Israeli soldier. Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 2000. United Nations verified the withdrawal and was satisfied with it. Now from Lebanon, Hezbollah entered Israel and kidnapped two soldiers. Now Israel is fighting a war on two fronts.

What is the guarantee that Gaza and Lebanon will not happen to India. How can you trust a nation which does not want to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure and which was planning Kargil, while yet another peace process was going on?

Right, what's the guarantee that even if we continue with the peace process, this won't happen to India? Kargil was one example of it, and we don't know what's going to happen in the future. Just what if India continues with the peace process with Pakistan while Pakistan is planning an attack against India to occupy more parts of Jammu and Kashmir As such, Indian intelligence hasn't really done any wonders in the past either. So, the only way India had was to stop the peace process until Pakistan makes some progress. I think India took a very important step in its war against terror.