For the umpteenth time, India has slammed Pakistan at the UN for sponsoring terrorism, this time for the massacre in the Baisaran Valley near Pahalgam, also drawing attention to Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Asif‘s admission that Pakistan has been doing the ‘dirty work’ for the US and the UK over the decades. The CIA-MI6-ISI nexus is well known. Pakistan is the brainchild of Britain, which also has the largest embassy in Islamabad.
The UNSC condemned the Pahalgam terrorist attack but its statement was watered down by Pakistan taking China’s help to avoid any blame. Chinese foreign Wang Yi has said, “As Pakistan’s ironclad friend and all-weather strategic cooperative partner, China fully understands Pakistan’s legitimate security concerns and supports Pakistan in safeguarding its sovereignty and security interests.” He also supported Pakistan’s bogus demand for an impartial probe into the massacre. China has reportedly delivered PL-15 long-range air-to-air missiles to Pakistan – for possible air-battles with India’s Rafale fighter jets.
It may be recalled that in the Jaffar Express hijack in Balochistan on March 11, 2025, where the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed to have killed all 215 Pakistan Army personnel, Pakistan blamed the involvement of India’s R&AW. The Pahalgam massacre is assumed to be payback to India for this, which is not the case. BLA didn’t need R&AW to hijack a train. But the incident led to public berating of Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir by former Army Chief Jehangir Karamat, with other former Army chiefs and Generals holding the same view. Munir not only wanted to retrieve his image, but also a 3-year extension when his tenure ends in November 2025; that’s why his diatribe calling J&K Pakistan’s ‘jugular vein” and two-nation theory, followed by the heinous terror attack. The manner in which Hindus were identified and shot also mirrored calls of Ghazwa-e-Hind in Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The present DGP of Jammu and Kashmir, Nalin Prabhat, purchased a Rs 10.3 crore house in Manali (December 2024), a Rs 26.2 crore bungalow in Chandigarh (2023) and more, while stating his monthly salary as Rs 2,24,100. Naxalites killed 74 CRPF personnel when he was DIG CRPF at Dantewada. Is he on a foreign payroll, is this why Pahalgam had no police cover, will it be hushed up like DSP Davinder Singh?
A terror attack of this magnitude isn’t possible without the CIA’s consent. This may look ambiguous with US Vice President JD Vance in India; however, the CIA orchestrated regime change in Bangladesh and systemic genocide against Hindus for months was to instigate India for attacking Bangladesh. Keeping India under pressure means making it lean more toward the US. Also, should India’s military retaliation against Pakistan invite Chinese action, the US sells more weapons to New Delhi and uses India as a proxy in case of escalation.
It is also opined that this massacre is the West’s reprisal for state-sponsored killings of over 200 Kuki-Zo Christians in Manipur. Another view is that Pakistan was asked to do so with the Paris-London-headquartered Rothschild & Co (with a history of conspiracies) investing US$100 million in Pakistan reeling under foreign debt; helping a failed state because Pakistan is a weapon, not a state.
A J&K Police report on the massacre mentions intercepted communications establishing links between the terror attack and Pakistani handlers, satellite surveillance indicates coordination between militants on the ground and their controllers and operatives based in Pakistan, with digital footprints traced to safe houses in Muzaffarabad and Karachi; real-time intelligence sharing and planning.
No terrorist attack in J&K or Punjab occurs without local support. But in the instant case, the million-dollar question is, how come there was no police cover in Pahalgam, not even covering the entrance to the Baisaran Valley, without any intimation whatsoever to tourists? Was this a ‘restricted’ area? There have been numerous instances of J&K police personnel caught with links to terrorists. DSP Davinder Singh of J&K police, the key to the Pulwama attack, was arrested travelling with two terrorists, but he was dismissed from service by the Lt Governor of J&K ‘without’ an inquiry. Are we missing a bigger game?
Nalin Prabhat, present DGP of J&K, purchased a Rs 10.3 crore house in Manali (December 2024), a Rs 26.2 crore bungalow in Chandigarh (2023) and more, while stating his monthly salary is Rs 2,24,100. Naxalites killed 74 CRPF personnel when he was DIG CRPF at Dantewada. Is he on a foreign payroll, is this why Pahalgam had no police cover, will it be hushed up like DSP Davinder Singh?
Foreign and indigenous media are shouting about the impending India-Pakistan war; comparing the armed forces of both, military might, nuclear weapons, and so on. Opinions are being aired that China will not interfere if India and Pakistan go to war; this is despite Wang Yi mentioning China as Pakistan’s ironclad friend and all-weather strategic cooperative partner.
Do we have an action plan at the national level for immediate response to such terror attacks rather than the drama of high-level meetings every time? Why do we keep moving from one crisis to another? For the last quarter century, we have NSA but none framed a ‘National Defence Strategy’. Whenever such tragedies occur, the NSA goes into a shell and does not surface until tempers cool and the news exits public space
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given complete freedom to the Armed Forces for responding to Pakistan. This means the ball is now in the military’s court, with the government absolved of accountability. But what stipulations/instructions Modi gave to the CDS and Service Chiefs will remain unknown. One may, therefore, witness tactical actions by the Army (nothing major), which the media will be used to portray as ‘crushing blows’ to Pakistan. The IAF and the Navy will likely continue sabre rattling; a Balakot-type of actions may not be ‘permitted’ for fear of escalation – with public criticism directed against the military’s ‘pusillanimous’ stance.
After the 2019 Pulwama car-bombing, the government held the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) ‘in abeyance’, not ‘suspended’ as the media would like us to believe. The same has been done now, with one demonstration of releasing excess water in the Jhelum River. India has the option to legally exit IWT, but has not done so perhaps because precious little has been done to divert the waters of the Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Sutlej and Beas rivers. The second reason could be that Pakistan will always deny its proxy war on India and most nations will only ‘sympathise’ with India, as has happened now. We can regulate water flow to adversely impact crops in Pakistan, but a permanent solution should be imperative.
Is our response to the Pahalgam massacre different from the Pulwama car-bombing? Yes, but not much. Do we have an action plan at the national level (not military alone) for immediate response to such terror attacks, rather than the drama of high-level meetings every time? Why do we keep moving from one crisis to another? A three-star veteran, a prolific writer and strategist, explains why we have had an NSA for the last quarter century but none framed a ‘National Defence Strategy’. Whenever such tragedies occur, the NSA goes into a shell and does not surface till tempers cool and the news exits public space.
Pakistan’s dirty war must be responded to in the same coin targeting its military-ISI, terrorist infrastructure and economy. But the permanent solution to deal with Pakistan is the liberation of Balochistan and Sindh, as well as Pashtunistan (the original Blackwell Plan). Who will work this out with timelines and execute it when the government’s focus is trade and elections? Can the NSCS or a Think Tank be tasked to at least work out a plan? Meanwhile, we may witness more terror attacks; with the excuse that if Hamas could surprise Israel, such incidents are bound to happen.
The author is an Indian Army veteran. The views expressed are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
