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Former foreign secretary and former Indian envoy to the United States, Lalit
Mansingh does not think that military action against Pakistan is a good or
feasible idea. He thinks India should work on the diplomatic front and get the
United States and the international community to exert pressure on Pakistan.
Mansingh tells Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Jr that India should not react in anger
to the Mumbai terrorist act, but adopt a carefully formulated policy.
1
Do you think the US had pampered Pakistan all these years and their
response now is too little, too late?
My take on this is that depending on Americans alone is not good enough.
Americans cannot save us from terrorism. I think 80 per cent of the effort against
terrorism has to be national, 20 per cent international. Diplomacy is important.
But are we are doing enough on our own?
What people are saying about keeping the options open, but not saying it, is the
military option. Now, I am strongly of the view that this is a dangerous way of
thinking, for several reasons. I have a generalised theory about India's dealing
with Pakistan. One is that when India tries to put pressure on Pakistan
bilaterally, they (in Pakistan) generally tend to become belligerent. So, it does not
work. When the international community puts pressure on Pakistan, they are
more inclined to cooperate with India. Invading Pakistan territory is not going to
help in fighting terrorism. Earlier, they were suggestions about taking punitive
action, and attacking terrorist camps in Pakistan. It is an option that was
considered carefully in the past, and given up. Remember, the terrorist camps are
not fixed. They change their location. You can attack a dozen camps, but they
crop up elsewhere. It is not a feasible option.
2
there is actionable intelligence about terrorist activity and the Pakistanis were
unwilling or unable to act, then the US should strike. In our case, we do not have
actionable intelligence against Pakistan. The US has the capability for surgical
strikes. India is not the US.
Even the US commits blunders because they have been killing civilians in their
attack on terrorist targets.
Do you think that the time has come for the international community
to act against Pakistan?
Yes. The time has come. The US and the international community will have to
consider that the rifts in Pakistan society, its weak democratic structure and the
danger of nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists are global
problems, not just that of India's. The international community will have to find a
way to deal with it.