Talks before accusations

It was a day of much activity on the India-Pakistan border. On Wednesday, a suspected Pakistani terrorist was caught alive after militants attacked a Border Security Force (BSF) convoy on Jammu-Srinagar national highway in Udhampur killing two men of the border guarding force and injuring 11 personnel. The other terrorists involved in the strike were shot dead in the retaliatory fire. The terrorist identified as Usman Khan, and then later identified him as Mohammad Naved, had escaped from the encounter site and taken three persons hostage in a school building in a nearby hamlet. 

However, with the aid of local villagers, the Indian security forces soon arrested Naved. Interrogation by the Jammu and Kashmir police later in the day had reportedly revealed that Naved is a resident of Faisalabad in Pakistan. Obvious comparisons are being drawn with Ajmal Kasab, the only Pakistani terrorist captured alive after the 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai. Giving further credence to such an assessment, Naved has reportedly told interrogators that he is a member of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the same terror group involved in the Mumbai attacks. 

The attack comes at a time of much churning on the geopolitical front between India and Pakistan. Both sides are slated to hold National Security Advisor (NSA)-level talks later this month, with terrorism on top of the agenda.  For a long time, both sides have accused one another of harbouring and facilitating terror attacks on their side of the border. The Indian side believes that certain sections of the military and intelligence establishment in Pakistan have harboured, financed and facilitated the flow of terrorism on the Indian side of the border, especially in Jammu and Kashmir. 

In recent times, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and events in Gurdaspur, have been used as examples of the Pakistan’s reported culpability.  Meanwhile, the Pakistani establishment has long blamed India for facilitating terror activities in the country, especially in the civil strife-torn region of Baluchistan. With terrorism on the agenda for the NSA-level talks, these accusations are bound to come to the fore. However, before both sides get mired in cross-border accusations instead of fruitful talks, they should listen to the wise words of Tariq Khosa, the former head of Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), who supervised the investigation behind the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. 

In his column for a leading Pakistani daily, Khosa said that investigators had uncovered a mountain of evidence linking the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) to the carnage that was “planned and launched” from Pakistani soil. <g data-gr-id="37">Khosa</g> goes on to write that authorities in Pakistan must bring the perpetrators and masterminds of the “ghastly terror attacks” to justice. According to <g data-gr-id="38">Khosa</g>, the slow pace of court proceedings that are looking into the 26/11 attacks can be attributed to the deliberate sabotage of the legal process. The Pakistani state apparatus, according to <g data-gr-id="39">Khosa</g>, has to deal with the fallout of the attacks and this will require “facing the truth and admitting mistakes”. LeT Commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and six others, were arrested in Pakistan and charged with planning, financing and facilitating the attacks. Their trial, however, has dragged on since 2009, with Lakhvi released on bail in <g data-gr-id="42">April,</g> 2015. 

Despite a sense of redemption for Indian authorities, there is a key lesson that both sides must take into account before they sit for talks. As <g data-gr-id="36">Khosa</g> writes, “They (India) <g data-gr-id="40">too</g> have many skeletons in their cupboards. So why fight shy? Let both India and Pakistan admit their mistakes and follies and learn to coexist while trying to find solutions to their thorny issues through peaceful means”. As figures on the international forum, it is imperative that they do not get cowed down by the forces of domestic politics. It is, of course, easier said than done. For lasting peace, however, certain sacrifices must be made, with astute diplomacy leading the way.