Frontline Pakistan : The Struggle With Militant Islam - Arz-e-Pak

Kashmir
flared up again. A terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament on 13
December renewed the threat of war.
India quickly blamed two Pakistani-based Islamic militant groups,
JeM and LeT, for the attack.This audacious raid on the symbol of Indian
power brought the two newly nuclear-powered nations once again to
the brink of war. India retaliated by severing diplomatic relations and
cut rail and air communications and put Pakistan on notice to rein
in the militant groups or face the consequences of war. The gravity
of the terrorist attack and the post-9/11 global security environment
provided India the excuse to consider military action, to stop what
it described, as cross-border terrorism. 12 Meanwhile, India demanded
that Pakistan hand over 20 ‘most wanted terrorists’, including Masood
Azhar, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and five other men involved in the
December 1999 hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane. The new Bush
doctrine of pre-emptive strikes against the source of terrorism and the
changes in the international rules of engagement afforded India the
chance to engage Pakistan in brinkmanship.
In the third week of December, India launched ‘Operation
Parakaram’ (Valour), which constituted the heaviest Indian troop
mobilization since the 1971 war. It was a deliberate move by New
Delhi, amidst the war on terror, to threaten Pakistan with military
strikes if Islamabad did not stop sponsoring cross-border terrorism.
There was every indication that India would not shy away from going
to war. With Pakistan’s counter-mobilization, nearly one million troops
sat eyeball to eyeball across the India-Pakistan border. Both countries
moved ballistic missiles and troops close to their shared border. There
was a considerable risk of nuclear escalation.
The threat of war, coupled with US pressure, forced Pakistan to
take action against the Islamic militant groups. On 12 January 2002,
Musharraf banned LeT and JeM, which were blamed by India for the
13 December attack. He promised not to let Pakistani territory be used
for cross-border terrorism. 13 Some two thousand activists of banned
extremist groups were detained in a nationwide crackdown.
Musharraf, however, made it very clear that the measures against
the Islamic extremist groups did not change his position on Kashmir.
‘Kashmir runs in our blood. No Pakistani can afford to severe links
with Kashmir. We will continue to give all diplomatic, political and
moral support to the Kashmiris,’ he declared. 14
India reacted positively to Musharraf’s 12 January speech and subsequent
moves to curb the militants. Nevertheless, it kept its military on
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