8/2/2019 Article by Vikram Sood

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Assaultsnndlafhe India Pakistan relationship inI recent years has been to a pat-I tern. Ttrey hit, we appease. Themassive train bombing in Mumbai in2006 was followed by the NAMSummit n 2OO7 where we loweredourselvesto Pakistan's level by agree-ing that both countries faced thecommon threat of terrorism. Weignored that India had suffered fromPakistani terrorism and innumerablekillings fior decades and Pakistan hadjust begun to suffer from Pakistani ter-rorism. Thereafter, the commonality,ended. The carnage of Mtmrbai onNovember 26,20AA - something allof us watched in horror andanguish - was really GenKayanit ltargil against us. ft wasa declaration of war. In responsewe did not e\ren formally sus-pend the Composite'Dialogue.lnstead, we had the sell out atSharm el-Sheil*r'in July 2009where we scored a number ofown goals.That has hen the patternsince then, beginning with theDelhi fiasco of the ForeignSecretaries'rneeting followed bythe Islamabad fiasco of theForeign Ministers' meeting inter-spersedwith dreamy eyedhopesof building trust at Thimpu andending with the latest foray inthe Maldives. Our problem hasbeen that we have made hope a

principle of foreign policy andPakistan has made terrorism aweapon of foreign policy and we arenot able to see the futility of the firstand the reality of the second.The reality is harsh and frighten-ing. The reality is that ofI.ashkar-e{a1yaba, its linkages withthe Deep S-tateof Pakistan embodiedin the Pak Army and the ISI and thejihadi paraphernalia. Ttrey draw sus-tenance from each other. While theworld is nowwaking up to the threat,we in India should by now havea clearidea of the kind of threat we face fromthis terrorist oudit masquerading as asocial service NGO. We should beunder no delusions about what thefunrre enlails as this organisation hasthe full support of the state.Ttree years after Mumbai, despiteall our entreaties and dossiers, therehas been no joy from Pakistan.Instead we have the Pak Interior

Minister suggesting that we hangQasab, and thereby dose the caseimp$ing quite clearly we nre notgoing to get what we want fromPakistan. Three years after Mumbaithe IcT has grown in strength antlrange of activities with a presence inat least 22 countries and making it afar more potent threat than any otherterrorist organisation.The LeT's vast terror networkextends beyond Pakistan; its terrortraining establishment of military-jihadi expertise teaches aninternational alumni. Jihadi trainingschools are now a lucrative postretirement avenue for retiring Armyofficers and men who provide inter-national consultancies andspecialised training, like creatingdeep cover operatives. It is estimatedthat the LeT has over 2,500 offices,employing over 25,000 persons.While its main centre remains at

Muridke, near lahore where it hsprawling campus, students' hostechnical institutes, medical cenits second major infrastrucnre fais in Shahdodpur in Sindh. Its ficial resources are enonnous -domestic from charigy contributicompensatioVsubsidy from Army, global donations fPakistanis abroad and from SArabia and UAE charities. Therenough money in the LeT cofferenable purchase of new propworth US $ 6 million'in PunjabSindh in 2003. Since 2001 a new tre, the Markaz Qadsiya was buiLahore at a cost of US$9.5 millionthis and more can be found in WJohn's book "The CaliphSoldiers," which is guaranteeleave many o{ us viry frightened.Today the I.eT is the world's qpow,erful trans-national, but estially Punjabi, terrorist g

DIPT0MATIGAILURE:hendia-Pakistanelationshipn ecentearsas eenet oapattern.

enjoyrng unending stateport. There are no signs thaPakistani state has any intions of either even disengafrom IeTsactivities to sayning of disrnantling this grTtre fear that there could major terrorist attack in Indthe LeT or is proxies, is real. Ttris threat will begirecedeonlywhen the DeepSrealises t has to pay a pricsuch activities. Mere threabreak dialogue, display of placed magnanimity or appto the international commuare unlikely to impress theor its mentors.Thewriter s a ormer hief fResearchndAnalysis ing RA