The night of 28th September 2016 is embedded in the heart of every Indian with due respect for the Indian Army. The surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the Line of Control on Wednesday night shows a careful planning of strategy, a meticulously laid out plan and a high degree of cooperation between the diplomatic, political and military entities.
Though the Indian surgical strike was calculated and well-planned, the role of US in the entire episode is also significant.
Soon after India announced the news of surgical strike across the LoC, US affirmed its support to India on the issue of cross-border terrorism, while putting Pakistan on notice for its failure to act against UN-designated terrorist groups and entities.
In the conversation between Indian National Security Council Chief Ajit Doval and his US counterpart Susan E Rice discussed measures to counter terror in Af-Pak region. She also offered condolences to the Uri attack victims and their families. On the telephonic conversation with Ajit Doval, she also assured that the US is “concerned about the dangers of cross border terrorism and fully expects that Pakistan will take effective action to combat and delegitimize UN designated terrorist individuals and entities, including Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Muhammad, and their affiliates.”
State Department Spokesperson John Kirby, when asked earlier this week, said that an attack like that in Kashmir’s Uri “obviously” escalates tensions. This clearly shows that the White house and the State Department are willing to take a side, even if mentioning indirectly.
Although the statement did not explicitly pin the Uri attack on Pakistan, US openly pledged that Washington would “deepen collaboration on counter terrorism matters including on UN terrorist designations.” This comment could be a strong message to Islamabad telling them not to retaliate. US lawmakers are strongly condemning terrorism issuing a bill proposing that Pakistan be labelled a terror state.
In a separate letter to Prime Minister Modi, two other influential senators, Mark Warner and John Cornyn, said they were “greatly concerned about initial indication that the perpetrators of this (Uri) attack were Pakistani and that the attack emanated from Pakistan” and “Pakistan’s possible involvement in this attack underscores out broader concerns about its use of terrorism as a pillar of its foreign policy towards Afghanistan and India.”
State Department Spokesperson John Kirby called for de-escalation of tension between the two countries – “We’ve seen those reports (of the surgical strikes). We’re following the situation closely as I think you can understand. We also understand that the Indian and Pakistani militaries have been in communication…Our message to both sides is the same, to encourage them to increase communication to deal with this threat and avoid steps that escalates the tension,” he said.
This leaves no doubt where US stands in the light of the latest events highlighting the cross-border terrorism between India and Pakistan.
This leaves everyone wondering about what Pakistan’s next move will be- Will there be another military attack on India? Or will they send more terrorists across International borders?
