India, Pakistan and Dialogue under the Shadow of Terror

Abstract

In the wake of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the US and the subsequent war on terror, the Afghanistan–Pakistan region has emerged as a safe sanctuary for various terror groups like Al-Qaeda, Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba. This article focuses upon the close linkages between the legacy of the anti-Soviet jihad inside Afghanistan in the 1980s and the insurgency that later began in the Indian-administered part of Jammu and Kashmir, which from its inception has been aided and abetted by the Pakistan army and its Inter-Service Intelligence Directorate (ISI). Despite international pressure, the infrastructure of terrorism directed against India from Pakistan-controlled territory remains intact due to inaction of the Pakistan government for political and strategic reasons. So long as the symbiotic relationship between sections of the Pakistan government (particularly the army and the ISI) and the various anti-India terrorist groups remains intact, there will be no meaningful progress in any kind of bilateral dialogue between the estranged neighbours.