India considering punitive actions against Pak: US official

Washington DC (USA): India is moving towards isolating Pakistan diplomatically and is considering punitive actions against Islamabad for its alleged support to cross border terrorism, a top American defence intelligence chief has said.

“India has sought and continues to move to isolate Pakistan diplomatically and is considering punitive options to raise the cost to Islamabad for its alleged support to cross- border terrorism,” Lt Gen Vincent Stewart, Director, Defence Intelligence Agency, told members of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee during a Congressional hearing on worldwide threats.

His statement came a day after Indian Army announced that they launched “punitive fire assaults” on Pakistani positions across the Line of Control, inflicting some damage. Sources said the strike was carried out on May 9, nine days after two Indian security personnel were beheaded by Pakistani special forces in Kashmir.

India, he said, is modernising its military to better posture itself to defend New Delhi’s interests in the broader Indian Ocean region and reinforce its diplomatic and economic outreach across Asia.

Bilateral relations between India and Pakistan worsened following several terrorist attacks in India, he said.

“Continued threat of high level terror attacks in India, violence in Kashmir and bilateral diplomatic recriminations will further strain India-Pakistan ties in 2017,” he said.

Following a terrorist attack on an Army base in Kashmir in September, New Delhi conducted a highly-publicised operation against militants across the LoC, he added.

“In 2016, Indian and Pakistani forces exchanged some of the heaviest fire in years along the Line of Control in Kashmir, and each expelled a number of the other’s diplomats amid growing tension,” Stewart said.

He also told lawmakers that in 2017, Islamabad is likely to slowly shift from traditional counterinsurgency operations along Pakistan’s western border to more counter terrorism and paramilitary operations throughout the country, which have had some success in reducing violence from militant, sectarian, terrorist, and separatist groups.

“Anti-Pakistan groups probably will respond to this sustained pressure by focusing their efforts against soft targets,” he said.

Noting that Pakistan’s nuclear stockpile continues to grow, Stewart said the US is concerned that this growth, as well as an evolving doctrine and inherent security issues associated with Pakistan’s developing tactical nuclear weapons, presents an enduring risk.