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All options are open if there is another terror attack: Officials
All options will be on the table in framing India’s response in the event of another cross-border terrorist attack and New Delhi will now focus on mounting pressure on Islamabad to deliver on its counter-terror commitments, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
All options will be on the table in framing India’s response in the event of another cross-border terrorist attack and New Delhi will now focus on mounting pressure on Islamabad to deliver on its counter-terror commitments, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
The Indian government will use forums such as the Financial Action Task Force and the UN Security Council, which has received a fresh proposal to designated Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist, to mount pressure on Pakistan, the people said.
“If there is any subsequent terrorist attack, then all options are available to the government of India,” a person familiar with decision-making at the highest level said, without giving details.
“India’s focus is now on the fight against terrorism. The action on the JeM training camp in Balakot is over, and it was intended to demonstrate we have the capacity and will to act against cross-border terrorism,” the person added.
The Indian government’s main effort is to build “maximum pressure diplomatically” on Pakistan and this pressure had led to the release of the Indian Air Force pilot, Wing commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was captured after his jet was shot down along the Line of Control last week, the people said.
The people dismissed reports that other countries had offered to mediate between India and Pakistan, saying all the world leaders who had spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi had offered “solid support” and expressed understanding for India’s position but had stayed out of the issue of mediation.
Besides reaching out to all 15 members of the UN Security Council to push for the listing of Azhar, India will document everything being done by Pakistan to curb terror financing and present these findings at the next review to be conducted by FATF in June, the people said. Excerpts from the dossier on JeM handed over to Pakistan had also been shared with other countries, they added.
The people declined to go into the issue of casualties in the air strike at Balakot last week, an issue that has been at the heart of a heated debate. Against the backdrop of media reports suggesting minimal damage during the air strike, opposition parties have been demanding greater clarity on the issue.
