India's calculated response post 26/11 overwhelming: Chertoff

It might be a "frustration" for India to restrict itself from any military action against nuclear power Pakistan after the Mumbai terror attacks but taking such a calculated response was "overwhelming", feels former US Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff.

It might be a "frustration" for India to restrict itself from any military action against nuclear power Pakistan after the Mumbai terror attacks but taking such a calculated response was "overwhelming", feels former US Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff.

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Chertoff, speaking at launch of a new think-tank Vivekananda International Foundation, advocated United States' policy of hot pursuit of terrorists in safe havens like Afghanistan and Pakistan border areas but said it was in India's interest to keep heads cool.

"The subcontinent being a nuclear zone, results of a conflict could be devastating. Terrorists would love to trigger nuclear response. The Mumbai attacks may have been designed to provoke that kind of response," he said.

Chertoff said in such situations "cool heads are desirable" and lauded "calculated response of Indian government".

The former secretary who initiated a series of measures during his tenure between 2005 and 2009 to tighten security and ensure a proactive response to any possible terror attack in the United States post 9/11 said, "I understand frustration but when you have nuclear power in the region such a response in overwhelming."