Though Pakistan has always denied accusations of fanning Terrorism inside India, yet it is well known fact that it has been bleeding India through a proxy war.
What this session covered
Recorded shortly after the terrorist attack on tourists at Pahalgam in Kashmir, this session brought together three speakers — a retired police officer who chaired the discussion and two former army officers, one of whom had served in Jammu and Kashmir — to weigh India's options. The panel noted that responsibility had been claimed by a group referred to as the TRF, which the chair, in his introduction, characterised as a front for a Pakistan-based militant organisation supported by the ISI. The attack was described as deliberately targeted at Hindus, with victims made to identify their religion before the men were shot. Speakers observed that while the apparent aim was to sow discontent, the Kashmir Valley had responded with a shutdown and condemnation from mosques, and that the attack would damage the tourism economy on which local prosperity depends. One speaker rejected the attackers' stated grievance of demographic change, noting that displaced Kashmiri Pandits returning to their homes does not alter the Valley's demography; the chair agreed in part while differing on the historical framing.
The discussion reviewed India's announced measures — suspension, rather than abrogation, of the Indus Waters Treaty pending an end to Pakistani support for terrorism, visa restrictions and the withdrawal of defence attachés — and Pakistan's reaction, including its description of any diversion of waters as an act of war and its declaration that the Shimla Agreement was void, which one speaker argued removed the sanctity of the Line of Control. On military retaliation the panel was consistently cautious: any response should come at a time, place and manner of India's choosing rather than as a knee-jerk reaction, and should sit within a multi-pronged effort combining diplomacy, economic pressure and international isolation of Pakistan. Strengthened covert operations inside Pakistan were discussed, with one speaker drawing a parallel with Israeli action against the leadership of Hamas.
On the domestic front, the chair argued that the attack pointed to a serious lapse of intelligence and the absence of security forces near the site, and called for intelligence rooted in the public at large — drawing on the Punjab experience — alongside better coordination with the elected state government, given that law and order remains with the governor. Speakers agreed that militants cannot operate without local support and that these networks must be identified and squeezed. The session closed on notes of caution: reported threats to Kashmiri students in other Indian states were cited as a worrying sign, one speaker pressed for explicitly religious labelling of the perpetrators while the chair warned against terminology that tars whole communities, and the closure of the Attari crossing was viewed as justifiable only as a temporary measure given its cost to small traders on both sides.
Key points raised
- The panel counselled against an immediate military response, arguing that any retaliation should come at a time, place and manner of India's choosing rather than as a knee-jerk reaction.
- Suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty was discussed as significant economic pressure on Pakistan; one speaker noted that Pakistan had called any diversion of waters an act of war and declared the Shimla Agreement void, arguing that this removed the sanctity of the Line of Control.
- The chair argued the attack reflected a lapse of intelligence and an absence of security forces near the site, and called for public-sourced intelligence networks and closer coordination with the elected state government.
- Speakers agreed that militants depend on local support systems, which must be identified and neutralised, alongside strengthened covert operations inside Pakistan.
- The discussion favoured a multi-pronged approach — diplomatic isolation of Pakistan, economic measures and calibrated military options — over any single instrument.
- The session warned against domestic communal fallout, citing reported threats to Kashmiri students in other states; the chair cautioned against alienating Muslims within India and against labels that tar whole communities.
