Pakistan running terror campaign, India tells foreign envoys

NEW DELHI, November 23, 2020: India intensified its diplomatic offensive Monday to expose Pakistan on the issue of cross-border terrorism with foreign secretary Harsh Shringla briefing a select group of foreign envoys, including from P5 countries, about the role of Pakistan based forces in the Nagrota terror attack.
Shringla told the envoys that the foiled terror attack was a part of Pakistan’s ongoing terror campaign in J&K where, in 2020 alone, India had seen 200 incidents of terrorist violence and neutralization of 199 terrorists.
The briefing focused on how a well-planned terrorist attack was launched from across the border and also, as official sources said, the implications of the incident on security, diplomacy and the battle against terrorism, given that this was the biggest terror attack planned in India since the February 2019 Pulwama terror strike.
200-metre long underground tunnel used by Jaish men killed in Nagrota, found
200-metre long underground tunnel used by Jaish men killed in Nagrota, found
The briefing also saw Shringla providing the heads of missions with an information docket carrying details of the incident as it transpired as well as list of items and munition that were recovered from Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists “clearly indicating their Pakistani origins”. They were also briefed on how the terrorists got into India which, a source said, is now clear through the discovery of an underground tunnel in the Samba sector.
Chinese ambassador Sun Weidong was not among those briefed even though other P5 envoys were present. For India, as a source said, the idea was to share information as widely as possible with the international community about Pakistan’s support to cross-border terrorism. India believes Pakistan, instead of checking the activities of groups like LeT and JeM, has been looking to divert attention from its internal political and economic failures by claiming that it was India which was supporting terrorist activities in Pakistan. Islamabad also recently shared with the international community a dossier on India’s alleged activities, described by Indian authorities as a figment of imagination.
Nagrota encounter: Evidence show terrorists were in touch with Pak handlers
Nagrota encounter: Evidence show terrorists were in touch with Pak handlers
Shringla also briefed them envoys about how preliminary investigations by the police and intelligence authorities, markings on the recovered AK47 rifles and other items showed that the terrorists belonged to Pakistan based JeM.
According to sources, this was the first of several briefings on the Nagrota attack to be conducted by MEA in small groups in view of Covid-19 situation and that other secretaries will also be briefing more heads of missions from their areas of jurisdiction.
Details of JeM’s involvement in previous such incidents were also shared. As PM Narendra Modi had said earlier, Shringla told the envoys that this was a part of ongoing efforts to sabotage the local body polls in JnK. He said the foiled terror attack was also aimed to coincide with the anniversary of 26/11 Mumbai terror strikes.
“In terms of the bigger picture, it was clear that the terrorists were planning the biggest terror attack in India since Pulwama in February 2019 and the implications can be guessed,” said a source, adding that the envoys were sensitized about India’s concerns regarding Pakistan’s sustained efforts to destabilize the situation in J&K and to subvert local elections and democracy.