India Pressures Pakistan on Other Terrorist Fugitives after Bin Laden’s Death
The secret U.S. operation in Pakistan’s garrison city of Abbottabad in early May has exposed Pakistan’s terror underbelly. The operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden triggered severe international criticism against Pakistan for allegedly sheltering the al-Qaeda chief for almost six years. In addition, it has amplified existing frictions in Indian-Pakistani relations, particularly those surrounding Pakistan’s alleged role in orchestrating a series of terrorist incidents in India and suggestions that individuals involved in those incidents are, like Bin Laden, taking refuge in Pakistan.
The U.S. operation generated speculation regarding the possibility of neighboring India carrying out similar “hot pursuits” inside Pakistani territory designed to target perpetrators of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks believed to be at large in that country. India’s internal affairs minister, Palaniappan Chidambaram, was the first to react officially, reiterating the long-held Indian view of Pakistan as a “terror sanctuary.” He maintained that the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks, as well as their controllers and handlers, continue to be sheltered in Pakistan (The Hindu, May 2). His remarks were soon followed by those of Chief of Army Staff General Vijay Kumar Singh and Air Chief Marshal Pradeep Vasant, whose speculation in the local media about India’s capacity to carry out secret operations similar to those of the U.S. Navy Seals prompted sharp reactions from the Pakistan Foreign Office and Army. Pakistani Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir characterized these remarks as “bravado” and cautioned any kind of misadventure or miscalculation from Indian side would result in “catastrophe” (The Hindu, May 6; Daily Times [Lahore], May 5).