The capital of India, New Delhi, and its western state of Gujrat are on a high security alert since Sunday March 6, 2016. According to Indian news sources, this development took place after Pakistan’s National Security Adviser (NSA) Nasser Khan Janjua tipped off his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval about a possible Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) plot to stage cross-border terrorist strikes during the Shivaratri festival in Gujrat. The news sources claim that the intelligence shared by NSA Janjua reveals that a group of eight-ten operatives of the LeT and the Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) had infiltrated the border and were planning a militant attack. The LeT is blamed for the 2008 Mumbai attacks, whereas the JeM has been dominating the headlines lately because of the Pathankot airbase attack. Given this history, it is no surprise that India is taking the threat extremely seriously; it has heightened the presence of its security apparatus in the state as a consequence and has sent reinforcements in the form of four teams of the National Security Guard (NSG), India’s elite Special Forces. India’s State Home Minister Rajnikant Patel confirmed the receipt of the intelligence report from Pakistan, and further added that abandoned fishing boats near the coast had also raised suspicions that militants from Pakistan might have entered Gujarat by sea.
It is important, however, to mention that no Pakistani source has independently verified the sharing of this intelligence report, but if true it should be highly welcomed. Indeed, this would not be the only act of cooperation between the two countries in recent days. On Sunday, around 87 Indian fishermen were set free by Pakistan, and a further 86 are scheduled to be released on the 20th of this month. Meanwhile Pakistan also seems to be showing positive intent in the intractable investigation into the 2008 Mumbai attacks. As part of this process, Pakistan has asked the Indian government to send all 24 witnesses of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack to Islamabad to appear before the anti-terrorism court (ATC) in the federal capital. As Sartaj Aziz recently noted when talking about the Pathankot investigations, conducting investigation into a crime that took place in a different country is inherently fraught with complications, and requires cooperation between the two states. But despite its perhaps understandable reservations, India should note Pakistan’s efforts to go after leaderships of both the LeT and JeM. With Janjua sharing this intelligence, it is evident that Pakistan is sincere in combating cross-border infiltrations that always derail the crucial peace process between the two neighbours. This kind of cooperation and sharing of intelligence is going to be extremely critical in the fight to root militancy, and it is hoped that this progress is built upon and trust is restored so that tensions can begin to subside.http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/editorial/08-Mar-2016/intelligence-sharing
Comments are closed.