A question of responsibility

India continues to tie new knots into the tangled web at the centre of which lies the Pathankot incident. In the latest development India’s Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar told the Rajya Sabha in response to a supplementary question asked by a Shiv Sena member that while Pakistani non-state actors were definitely responsible for the attack they could not have functioned smoothly without assistance from state actors. We must question the responsibility of this statement, just like the others that have come from New Delhi before. It is not fair to draw conclusions and announce them at a public forum before the full inquiry into Pathankot is complete. Parrikar also said that this effort from a high-powered Indian committee was continuing for now. Islamabad has already said that the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi appears to be involved. To go any further than this on the basis of conjecture will simply add to the complications already surrounding the raid on the military installation.

The key focus for both nations must be to solve the mystery and discover where the attack was planned and how it was carried out. In the Indian media there have already been some allegations of possible help to the militants from Indian soil. This is an area that New Delhi hesitates to dwell on. All possibilities need to be considered and it seems increasingly likely that Parrikar is also anxious to cover up security lapses on the Indian end. This matter too is under investigation in the country. What is vital is that Islamabad and New Delhi develop full cooperation so that the Pathankot incident is not permitted to stand in the way of taking ties back to normalcy. Already, foreign secretary-level talks scheduled for January this year have been indefinitely postponed. New Delhi must understand that calling off dialogue and other exchanges with Pakistan simply plays into the hands of those who do not wish for peace between the two neighbours. In order to ensure that these elements do not succeed and give those seeking cooperation a chance at success, it is important the Pathankot investigation be handled both sensibly and with sensitivity so that further hype and hysteria is not built up. Such hysteria has damaged relations in the past; and irresponsible behaviour will lead to it doing so once again.