Editorial: Poonch attack exposes Pakistan

The Poonch attack is a reminder that the scourge of terror needs robust surveillance and counter-measures round the clock

Hyderabad: The dastardly attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch, killing five army personnel, came as a grim reminder that cross-border support to terrorism and terror infrastructure continues to be an all-pervasive threat. Pakistan-backed terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed has claimed responsibility for the ambush. The terror strike highlights the continuing vulnerability of the border area in spite of three tiers of security — the Army at the Line of Control, the Rashtriya Rifles in areas proximate to the border and the police in the hinterland. After the killing of civilians at a Rajouri village in January, the Poonch attack is a reminder that the scourge of terror needs robust surveillance and counter-measures round the clock. Clearly, the perpetrators of the attack and their handlers from across the border must be hoping to throw a spoke into India’s plan to hold the G20 meeting on tourism in Srinagar next month. Such cowardly actions should not deter New Delhi from going ahead with its planned meeting. The ambush came just hours after Pakistan’s announcement that its foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto would attend the meeting of the Foreign Ministers Council of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to be held in Goa next month, the first high-level visit by a Pakistani official since Nawaz Sharif’s trip in 2014 for the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Modi. There are demands that India should cancel the invitation to Pakistan for the SCO meet. However, the government must firewall these important diplomatic events from falling hostage to terror outfits bent upon derailing peace in South Asia.

The increasing number of incidents in the Valley reflect the ease with which terror elements are able to remain untraced, even as they mingle in local communities for food and shelter. This change should be a cause for concer for security experts. Equally worrying are the drone deliveries of weapons in the border areas, as pointed out by India at the UN Security Council just last week. There is no doubt that the latest terror strike has dealt a blow to any prospect of a thaw in India-Pakistan ties, which are already in deep freeze. Such despicable acts come as a reminder of Pakistan’s continued policy of using terrorism as an instrument of State policy and fomenting trouble in the region. The Pakistani leadership must bear in mind that cross-border terrorism is the single most important issue that needs to be tackled for normalisation of bilateral ties. Cracking down on terrorism and bridging the trust deficit are prerequisites for the restoration of normalcy. There is a need to take a fresh look at the guidelines on troop movement, combing operations and deployment of counter-terror measures. The attack took place near the site of a 2021 encounter that lasted several weeks. Despite an intense search, the terrorists managed to flee.

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