India says it did enter the
Myanmarese territory on Tuesday (morning of June 9) to carry out attacks on
terrorists camps there, believed to be of the outfits (NSCN-K, PLA, KYKL, KLO,
ULFA (I) and others) behind the June 4 terror strike in Chandel that left 18
Indian Army soldiers dead.
Myanmar had not reacted on the
claim initially. But even June 10's reaction had two versions (contradicting
each other).
Professionalism needed the Indian
establishment to go silent about it. The Indian Army did so, not mentioning 'entering
in Myanmar' even once during its presser and in the press-release. It
maintained 'covertness' of the 'covert operation'.
But the political establishment
could not do so. The ruling block saw a good political branding opportunity
here to claim 'paradigm shift in India's anti-terror policy' under the new
government and its strong Prime Minister.
Even if it is in the realm of
'policy debates' and, ideally, the political establishment should have followed
the policy adopted by the Indian Army, the happenings on that front are
contrary, and the Opposition is targeting that.
Zaw Htay, the person whom the
contradicting reports quoted on June 10 on 'India entering in Myanmar' didn't
come forward to clear the position. He is the director of the office of the
President of Myanmar. Any other response, so far, has not been given by
Myanmar.
Anyway, there are reasons to
believe India did enter in hot-pursuit in Myanmar and destroyed the terrorists
camps there based on the available intelligence.
And we can see more such attacks
in the days ahead. It is in line with Narendra Modi's tough and direct approach on
terrorism.
Jitendra Singh arrived in Myanmar
yesterday. He is MoS, Prime Minister's Office and MoS, Development of the North-eastern
Region. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is reaching there today. Defence
Minister Manohar Parrikar emphatically talked about the 'changed way' to deal
with terrorists. He said, "Those who fear India's new posture have already
started reacting. If the thinking pattern changes, lot of things change. You
have seen for the last 2-3 days. A simple action against insurgents has changed
the mindset of the full security scenario in the country."
So, even if the issue of 'hot pursuit'
is hot on air waves and in political circles for reasons including contentious
points, India's anti-terror policy is going to be hotter in coming days.
Even if Pakistan is left out of
this 'new and bold' approach, India shares friendly foreign relations with
other neighbouring countries of South Asia, i.e., Myanmar, Bangladesh, Bhutan
and Nepal. Narendra Modi has taken steps to improve ties and has been
reciprocated.
India's relation with Pakistan
has been hostile mostly and is
witnessing a low turn these days. And China would not allow terror camps on its
soil, especially after experiencing insurgency in Xinjiang.