Kriti Upadhyaya
Tensions between India and Pakistan are high again, this time following a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir in late April that killed 26 tourists—25 Indian and one Nepali.
In early May, India launched targeted strikes on nine terrorist camps in Pakistan, both in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and in Pakistan’s Punjab province. Pakistan retaliated, and the two sides exchanged volleys of missiles, drones, and artillery. These attacks continued until a ceasefire was announced on May 10.
Border skirmishes and line of control violations in this sector are tragically familiar, but this episode yet again underscores the persistent threat posed by terrorism in South Asia. And it raises complex questions for the United States as it works to deepen its strategic partnership with India.
Pakistan’s Long Shadow on Counterterrorism
Pakistan has long been a hub for regional terrorist groups. Indeed, the discovery of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad in 2011 raised very real concerns about Pakistan’s longstanding and ongoing links to various terrorist outfits.
Groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) have launched deadly acts of terrorism like the 2008 Mumbai attacks and the 2019 Pulwama bombing. Yet despite their actions, they continue to operate openly and freely within the country.
Indeed, one of the terrorists killed in India’s recent response was Abdul Rauf Asghar, a top JeM commander implicated in the brutal 2002 killing of American journalist Daniel Pearl. At a funeral following India’s strikes, Pakistani military officers were filmed mourning the dead alongside a notorious U.S.-designated global terrorist from LeT. Pakistan could not claim plausible deniability.
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