Recent attacks against Indian interests – one in Pathankot inside India and the other in Mazar-i-Sharif in Afghanistan – show how terrorists remain able to not only strike at sensitive locations, but also disrupt crucial, landmark diplomatic advances. To a large extent the terrorist attack has achieved its aim, though not completely. New Delhi has acted more responsibly than expected, but it has associated further advancement in the recent ‘thaw’ with progress, from Pakistan, on investigating the attacks. In addition to bringing perpetrators of this particular round of attacks to book, this development raises a number of important regional questions as well.
With the US, Afghanistan, Pakistan and to an extent, India fighting wars against terrorism, the phenomenon should have died some time ago. Instead, it has not just grown, but assumed dangerous proportions. And while the popular narrative about the Pathankot fallout will concentrate on Pakistan reining in alleged former proxies, there is a greater question that the region faces. Clearly various anti-terror initiatives have not met their desired ends. In fact, only the Pakistani operation has come close to something worth writing home about, and here too much needs to be done before the fight is eventually won.
There is an urgent need for principal regional capitals to come together in this long war. For far too long the lead players have been playing at cross-purposes. Pak-India rivalry is as old as partition. And Islamabad and Kabul have also been at odds for far too long. There has been gradual rapprochement with both sides, with the ups and downs that come with it of course, but there are invariably more steps back than forward. Unless this trend is reversed, the fight against terrorism will never truly be won. South Asia will do well to learn from the Middle East, where terror has spread across borders and torn the fabric of much of the region to ribbons. http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2016/01/09/comment/terror-in-south-asia/
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