JK News Today Commentary
In more than one ways, the joint statement following the 22nd India-Russia annual summit in Moscow on Tuesday , reflected on the menace of terrorism with a spotlight on the recent Kathua terror attack is a big diplomatic victory of India in mobilizing the world opinion against cross-border terrorism , in which Pakistan is a prime culprit .
The joint statement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladmir Putin , in its very essence is endorsement of the Indian stand on terrorism and how this international scourge be fought
The very reference to Kathua terror attack in the statement is a big blow to Pakistan that is responsible for the terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir . It is severe censure of Pakistan and its ways of sponsoring and executing acts of terror on the Indian soil, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir .
This statement and the intent behind it will hurt Pakistan in more than one ways . Pakistan is looking toward Russia for its energy needs and to keep a balance between America-led West and Russia , which is also coming closer to Islamabad’s all-weather friend China . The joint statement is a writing on the wall for Pakistan and it must read it carefully and act accordingly , putting a full stop to the export of terrorism on the Indian side of the border.
In the joint statement , the two leaders “unequivocally condemned terrorism and violent extremism conducive. to terrorism in all its forms and manifestations including the cross-border movement of terrorists,,” as they also “ strongly condemned the recent dastardly terrorist attack on an Army convoy in Kathua area of Jammu & Kashmir on 8th July 2024, in Dagestan on 23rd June and on the Crocus City Hall in Moscow on 22nd March and stressed that these terrorist attacks are a grim reminder for further strengthening cooperation to combat terrorism.” That meant Modi and Putin saw these attacks on their soils as an assault on them by the forces from across their borders , and also underlined their jointness on the issue of counter-terrorism strategy to be adopted to get rid of this danger to the world.
“The ( two ) sides called for an uncompromising fight against international terrorism and extremism in all their forms and manifestations, noting the importance of increasing cooperation in this area, without hidden agendas and double standards on the solid basis of international law and the UN Charter. Besides, they stressed the need for firm implementation of relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council, the UN General Assembly, as well as the implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.”
From Indian point of view , it is important that Kathua terror attack of the July 8th figured in the joint statement , which has international dimensions and relevance . Kathua terror attack on Monday left five soldiers dead and five others injured in a terror attack . The attack had all the makings and markings of Pakistan sponsored terrorists and the plot woven across the border. This invokes the dimension of cross-border terrorism that India has been asking the world to see and decide how it should lead to the counter-terrorism operations to punish the perpetrators within and across the border.
Kathua terror attack of the July 8th has spelled various critical factors and brought out continuous campaign of terrorism , planned from Pakistani soil , and executed on the Indian side by terrorists of Pakistan-origin .It is particularly disturbing as the attack showed the geographical extent which the terrorists have covered from Rajouri-Poonch to extreme south end of Jammu region in Kathua. Terrorists are demonstrating that they have the reach from one end to the other .
India had retaliated in the wake of the September 18, 2016 attack on the army camp in the border town of Uri in north-west Kashmir with surgical strikes across the Line of Control ( LoC) that divides Jammu and Kashmir between India and Pakistan , and with aerial strikes with precision in the aftermath of devastating terror attack on CRPF convoy on February 14, 2019 in Pulwama in Kashmir. In Uri, India had lost 20 soldiers , and in Pulwama , 40 CRPF personnel were left dead .
With regular terror attacks in Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, read in the context of India-Russia statement , India has right to fight terrorism in the ways it deems fit , and Pakistan alone would be responsible for the consequences .
