Pakistan could be changing its approach towards terrorist attacks in India that originate from its soil because its security establishment senses new dangers for Islamabad since the Pathankot airbase strike, Indian officials say.
More than a week since an unprecedented telephone call from Pakistan National Security Advisor Lt Gen (Retd.) Nasir Khan Janjua to his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval about a group of around 10 terrorists had entered Gujarat, the Indian side has sought to decipher whether Pakistan’s terror tip-off to India was a genuine gesture or an eyewash.
A top security official said New Delhi’s preliminary conclusion was that there was certainly a change in the Pakistani security establishment’s approach but a number of factors could be at work.
These factors, apart from showing to the US that it is working with India to fight terrorism, could also include a belated realisation that the ISI-trained terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammad that target India are under the scanner of the Western security agencies too.
Also, eventually, these anti-India groups – out of sheer frustration – could some day also join hands with other Pakistan-based groups and work for the growing ISIS whose primary target is to expand influence in Muslim-dominated countries like Pakistan and make them fit into the Islamic State under one Caliphate.
“There is a definite fear among the Pakistani security ranks that the menace and diminishing returns for the anti-India groups could turn into a nightmare if they were to join hands with other domestic organisations that Pakistani armed forces are battling now – Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Lashkar-e-Omar (LeO), Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), Tehreek-e-Jaferia Pakistan (TJP), Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi(TNSM), Lashkar-eJhangvi (LeJ), Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan (SMP) and Jamaat-ul-Fuqralike Al Quaeda,” the official said.
True, it is too early or impossible to conceive, as yet, that Pakistan will turn against the Lashkar and its head Hafiz Saeed despite all the pressure that may be put by India and the international community. India too cannot relax on the ground on a single tip-off.