Latest news with #AjayBisaria
India Today
05-05-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Pausing Indus Waters Treaty huge step against cross-border terrorism: Ex-envoy
Former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria said the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty by India in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack was the most serious step taken to fight against terrorism. "The non-kinetic measures taken so far are perhaps the most serious steps India has taken against terrorism as compared to any terror episodes in the past. Suspending the Indus Waters Treaty is a huge step. It has affected Pakistan, which has called it an act of war," Bisaria said. He stressed that kinetic measures were essential to set up a credible deterrence so that cross-border terrorism doesn't happen again. "It is important to have kinetic action in the mix to ensure that the deterrence is credible, lasting and targets the Pakistan Army. The objective is to set up the deterrence to avoid a Pahalgam-like attack again," the former envoy said.
India Today
05-05-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Exclusive: Journalist says she was stunned by Pak Minister's 'dirty work' admission
56:20 Former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria praised the government's move to pause the Indus Waters Treaty, calling it a "serious" and "huge step" against Pakistan over its support for terrorism.
NDTV
05-05-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
India-Pakistan Tensions Live Updates: Pakistan Continues Unprovoked Firing Across LoC For 11th Consecutive Night
India-Pakistan Tensions Live Updates: The situation remains tense between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, with Pakistan resorting to unprovoked firing across the LoC for the 11th consecutive night. On the adjoining night of May 4 and May 5, small arms firing was directed from posts in areas opposite Kupwara, Baramulla, Poonch, Rajauri, Mendhar, Naushera, Sunderbani, and Akhnoor in Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian Army responded to the firing promptly. The United Nations Security Council will meet today to discuss the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. Twenty-six people, including one Nepali national, were killed and many others were injured as multiple terrorists descended on Baisaran Valley, known as "Mini Switzerland" - a tourist hotspot with rolling hills and verdant orchards - and opened fire on April 22. India has vowed to track down and punish every terrorist involved in the massacre. Here are the LIVE updates on India-Pakistan tensions: Public Mood Should Not Dictate War: "If Missiles Are Going To Rain...": Experts On Cost Of India-Pak War As emotions run high in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, a former diplomat has warned that public mood should not dictate a war with Pakistan. Ajay Bisaria, former high commissioner to Pakistan, highlighted the key aspects of such an action and said its timing should not be based on what the people feel. "For any operation to succeed, you need three elements: speed, surprise, and secrecy. There is an issue of choosing our timing, and that should not be dictated by the public mood," said the former diplomat on an ANI podcast. Mr Bisaria, who has headed the Indian mission in Pakistan during 2017-2020, stressed the need to be able to fight the battle on its own if the situation escalates. "We have to fight this battle on our own. When you escalate, you have to be prepared for the worst-case scenario, which is an uncontrolled escalation where you could even be fighting a full-scale war. And have the capacity, intent, political will, and national will to be able to do that," he added. Rajnath Singh's Big Hint Amid Tension With Pakistan Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today said it is his responsibility to work with the armed forces and give a "befitting reply" to those who cast an evil eye on India. The comments came amid the tension with Pakistan following the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam that killed 26 tourists. India has said the terrorists have cross-border linkages. "I want to assure you that under Prime Minister Modi's leadership, what you desire will certainly happen," the Defence Minister said, alluding to what people across the nation have been talking about the need for a response to Pakistan. "As the defence minister, it is my responsibility to work with my soldiers and ensure the protection of the country's borders. And it is my responsibility to give a befitting reply, by working with the armed forces, to those who cast an evil eye on our country," Mr Singh said. UN Security Council To Meet Today To Discuss India-Pakistan Tensions The United Nations Security Council will meet today to discuss the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. It will be an opportunity for both sides to express their views on the cross-border tensions before the international community. This comes a day after Pakistan's foreign office said it will inform the world security body about "India's aggressive actions, provocations, and provocative statements". The UN Security Council had condemned in the strongest terms the terror attack, in which 26 civilians were killed, underlining the need to hold the perpetrators, organisers and the sponsors of "this reprehensible act of terrorism" accountable and bring them to justice. India-Pakistan tensions: Pakistan Continues Firing For 11th Consecutive Night The situation remains tense between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, with Pakistan resorting to unprovoked firing across the LoC for the 11th consecutive night. On the adjoining night of May 4 and May 5, small arms firing was directed from posts in areas opposite Kupwara, Baramulla, Poonch, Rajauri, Mendhar, Naushera, Sunderbani, and Akhnoor in Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian Army responded to the firing promptly. Since the night of April 24, just hours after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty, Pakistani troops have been resorting to unprovoked firing at various places along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir.
NDTV
04-05-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
"Public Mood Should Not Dictate War": Ex-Envoy To Pakistan Amid Rising Tensions
As emotions run high in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, a former diplomat has warned that public mood should not dictate a war with Pakistan. Ajay Bisaria, former high commissioner to Pakistan, highlighted the key aspects of such an action and said its timing should not be based on what the people feel. "For any operation to succeed, you need three elements: speed, surprise, and secrecy. There is an issue of choosing our timing, and that should not be dictated by the public mood," said the former diplomat on an ANI podcast. Mr Bisaria, who has headed the Indian mission in Pakistan during 2017-2020, stressed the need to be able to fight the battle on its own if the situation escalates. EP-292 with Sushant Sareen & Ajay Bisaria premieres today at 5 PM IST "Speed, surprise, and public mood dictate a war," says Ajay Bisaria, former High Commissioner to Pakistan. "Why didn't Russia stand with India after the Pahalgam terror attack?" asks Sushant… — ANI (@ANI) May 3, 2025 "We have to fight this battle on our own. When you escalate, you have to be prepared for the worst-case scenario, which is an uncontrolled escalation where you could even be fighting a full-scale war. And have the capacity, intent, political will, and national will to be able to do that," he added. His comments assume significance amid the soaring tensions between India and Pakistan after 26 civilians were massacred in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam by terrorists with links to a Pakistan-based terror group. Sushant Sareen, a strategic affairs expert, warned of the "massive costs" of war and said both countries will be vulnerable if the situation escalates to the point where India and Pakistan drop missiles on each other's cities. "It is extremely critical that we prepare our public that there are massive costs and risks attached to any kinetic action. If missiles are going to be raining on each other's cities, then if Islamabad and Lahore are vulnerable, then so is Delhi," said Mr Sareen. He also questioned Russia's position as a partner and whether they would support India in a scenario where it's pitted against China. "Russians haven't really come out in our favour. This is something that we should ask our foreign policy establishments, that we have been saying 'Russia, Russia, Russia', and we have also been insisting that if tomorrow we have some kind of tiff with the Chinese, then will the Russians stand with us? There has been a body of opinion that said 'yes,'" he said. "My question is, they did not stand with us on the Pakistani thing, why will they stand with us on the Chinese thing?" Mr Sareen asked. Backing the government's decision to ban YouTube handles of Pakistani channels and creators, he said that it was not okay to allow them to utilise the Indian market to spread propaganda against India and make a profit out of it. "Under normal circumstances, it's okay, fine, you're having a normal debate. It's fair enough. But these are not normal, but extraordinary circumstances. The other thing is banning YouTube; you subtly hit at their revenue stream. You cannot try and utilise my market and carry out poisonous propaganda against me and make a profit out of it. I'm not going to allow," said Mr Sareen.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
India and Pakistan are in crisis again - here's how they de-escalated in the past
Last week's deadly militant attack in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir, which claimed 26 civilian lives, has reignited a grim sense of déjà vu for India's security forces and diplomats. This is familiar ground. In 2016, after 19 Indian soldiers were killed in Uri, India launched "surgical strikes" across the Line of Control – the de facto border between India and Pakistan - targeting militant bases. In 2019, the Pulwama bombing, which left 40 Indian paramilitary personnel dead, prompted airstrikes deep into Balakot - the first such action inside Pakistan since 1971 - sparking retaliatory raids and an aerial dogfight. And before that, the horrific 2008 Mumbai attacks - a 60-hour siege on hotels, a railway station, and a Jewish centre - claimed 166 lives. Each time, India has held Pakistan-based militant groups responsible for the attacks, accusing Islamabad of tacitly supporting them - a charge Pakistan has consistently denied. Since 2016, and especially after the 2019 airstrikes, the threshold for escalation has shifted dramatically. Cross-border and aerial strikes by India have become the new norm, provoking retaliation from Pakistan. This has further intensified an already volatile situation. Once again, experts say, India finds itself walking the tightrope between escalation and restraint - a fragile balance of response and deterrence. One person who understands this recurring cycle is Ajay Bisaria, India's former high commissioner to Pakistan during the Pulwama attack, who captured its aftermath in his memoir, Anger Management: The Troubled Diplomatic Relationship between India and Pakistan. "There are striking parallels between the aftermath of the Pulwama bombing and the killings in Pahalgam," Mr Bisaria told me on Thursday, 10 days after the latest attack. Yet, he notes, Pahalgam marks a shift. Unlike Pulwama and Uri, which targeted security forces, this attack struck civilians - tourists from across India - evoking memories of the 2008 Mumbai attacks. "This attack carries elements of Pulwama, but much more of Mumbai," he explains. "We're once again in a conflict situation, and the story is unfolding in much the same way," Mr Bisaria says. A week after the latest attack, Delhi moved quickly with retaliatory measures: closing the main border crossing, suspending a key water-sharing treaty, expelling diplomats, and halting most visas for Pakistani nationals - who were given days to leave. Troops on both sides have exchanged intermittent small-arms fire across the border in recent days. Delhi also barred all Pakistani aircraft - commercial and military - from its airspace, mirroring Islamabad's earlier move. Pakistan retaliated with its own visa suspensions and suspended a 1972 peace treaty with India. (Kashmir, claimed in full by both India and Pakistan but administered in parts by each, has been a flashpoint between the two nuclear-armed nations since their partition in 1947.) In his memoir, Mr Bisaria recounts India's response after the Pulwama attack on 14 February 2019. He was summoned to Delhi the morning after, as the government moved quickly to halt trade - revoking Pakistan's most-favoured-nation status, granted in 1996. In the following days, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) imposed a 200% customs duty on Pakistani goods, effectively ending imports, and suspended trade at the land border at Wagah. Mr Bisaria notes that a broader set of measures was also proposed to scale down engagement with Pakistan, most of which were subsequently implemented. They included suspending a cross-border train known as the Samjhauta Express, and a bus service linking Delhi and Lahore; deferring talks between border guards on both sides and negotiations over the historic Kartarpur corridor to one of Sikhism's holiest shrines, halting visa issuance, ceasing cross border, banning Indian travel to Pakistan, and suspending flights between the two countries. "How hard it was to build trust, I thought. And how easy was it to break it," Mr Bisaria writes. "All the confidence-building measures planned, negotiated, and implemented over years in this difficult relationship, could be slashed off on a yellow notepad in minutes." The strength of the Indian high commission in Islamabad was reduced from 110 to 55 after Pulwama. (It now stands at 30 after the Pahalgam attack.) India also launched a diplomatic offensive. A day after the attack, then foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale briefed envoys from 25 countries - including the US, UK, China, Russia, and France - on the role of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), the Pakistan-based militant group behind the bombing, and accused Pakistan of using terrorism as state policy. JeM, designated a terrorist organisation by India, the UN, the UK, and the US, had claimed responsibility for the bombing. India's diplomatic offensive continued on 25 February, 10 days after the attack, pushing for JeM chief Masood Azhar's designation as a terrorist by the UN sanctions committee and inclusion on the EU's "autonomous terror list". While there was pressure to abrogate the Indus Waters Treaty - a key river water sharing agreement - India opted instead to withhold any data beyond treaty obligations, Mr Bisaria writes. A total of 48 bilateral agreements were reviewed for possible suspension. An all-party meeting was convened in Delhi, resulting in a unanimous resolution. At the same time, communication channels remained open - including the hotline between the two countries' Directors General of Military Operations (DGMO), a key link for military-to-military contact, as well as both high commissions. In 2019, as now, Pakistan said the attack was a "false-flag operation". Much like this time a crackdown in Kashmir saw the arrest of over 80 "overground workers" - local supporters who may have provided logistical help, shelter, and intelligence to militants from the Pakistan-based group. Rajnath Singh, then Indian home minister, visited Jammu and Kashmir, and dossiers on the attack and suspected perpetrators were prepared. In a meeting with the external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, Mr Bisaria told her that "that India's diplomatic options in dealing with a terrorist attack of this nature was limited". "She gave me the impression that some tough action was round the corner, after which, I should expect the role of diplomacy to expand," Mr Bisaria writes. On 26 February, Indian airstrikes - its first across the international border since 1971 - targeted JeM's training camp in Balakot. Six hours later, the Indian foreign secretary announced the strikes had killed "a very large number" of militants and commanders. Pakistan swiftly denied the claim. More high-level meetings followed in Delhi. The crisis escalated dramatically the next morning, 27 February, when Pakistan launched retaliatory air raids. In the ensuing dogfight, an Indian fighter jet was shot down, and its pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, ejected and landed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Captured by Pakistani forces, his detention in enemy territory triggered a wave of national concern and further heightened tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. Mr Bisaria writes India activated multiple diplomatic channels, with US and UK envoys pressing Islamabad. The Indian message was "any attempt by Pakistan to escalate situation further or to cause harm to the pilot would lead to escalation by India." Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan announced the pilot's release on 28 February, with the handover occurring on 1 March under prisoner of war protocol. Pakistan presented the move as a "goodwill gesture" aimed at de-escalating tensions. By 5 March, with the dust settling from Pulwama, Balakot, and the pilot's return, India's political temperature had cooled. The Cabinet Committee on Security decided to send India's high commissioner back to Pakistan, signalling a shift towards diplomacy. "I arrived in Islamabad on 10 March, 22 days after leaving in the wake of Pulwama. The most serious military exchange since Kargil had run its course in less than a month," Mr Bisaria writes, "India was willing to give old-fashioned diplomacy another chance.... This, with India having achieved a strategic and military objective and Pakistan having claimed a notion of victory for its domestic audience." Mr Bisaria described it as a "testing and fascinating time" to be a diplomat. This time, he notes, the key difference is that the targets were Indian civilians, and the attack occurred "ironically, when the situation in Kashmir had dramatically improved". He views escalation as inevitable, but notes there's also a "de-escalation instinct alongside the escalation instinct". When the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meets during such conflicts, he says, their decisions weigh the conflict's economic impact and seek measures that hurt Pakistan without triggering a backlash against India. "The body language and optics are similar [this time]," he says, but highlights what he sees as the most significant move: India's threat to annul the Indus Waters Treaty. "If India acts on this, it would have long-term, serious consequences for Pakistan." "Remember, we're still in the middle of a crisis," says Mr Bisaria. "We haven't yet seen any kinetic [military] action." The child who identified the Mumbai terror attacker
