WASHINGTON – New York Times in an article has noted that India’s optionsfor putting diplomatic pressure on Pakistan were limited, so were itsoptions for a military response.
“Pakistan is largely shielded by its alliance with China, which has usedits veto power at the United Nations Security Council to protect it,” saidthe NYT report while explaining why India did not have too many options fordiplomatically isolating Pakistan.
“India’s options for a military response are also limited, analysts say,with the disputed border blanketed in thick snow and Pakistani troops onhigh alert,” the report added.
Diplomatic observers in Washington pointed out that the United States willalso not like to isolate Pakistan, particularly now when it’s playing a keyrole in US-Taliban talks. A semi-official US media outlet, Voice ofAmerica, reported that American and Taliban officials are set to meet inIslamabad on Monday for a new round of direct peace negotiations aimed atpaving the way for a political settlement to the war in Afghanistan.
The NYT report also hinted that the bomber might have been motivated bydomestic reasons to carry out the attack.
“The nature of Thursday’s bombing suggests the insurgency is adapting andbecoming more homegrown, leaving observers to question how deep the linksto Pakistan really run,” the newspaper observed.
It pointed out that Dar was from a village about six miles from where theIndian convoy was struck … and the explosives he packed into his carappear to have been locally procured.
The report noted that “an insurgency that was once stoked by Pakistan mayhave taken on a life of its own, as Kashmiris become more disenfranchisedand angry at the central government in Delhi and its use of force”.
Some of Dar’s friends told NYT that he turned to militancy after he waswounded at a protest in 2016, where his leg was struck by a bullet fired bythe Central Reserve Police Force, a paramilitary unit. “Many Kashmirisloathe the paramilitary unit, viewing it as an occupying force recruitedfrom across India to suppress them,” the report added.
It also noted that the attack had “prompted new questions about how tenable(Prime Minister Narendra) Modi’s hard-line strategy” in Kashmir was.