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Correspondent

21 August 2024 at 10:20:16 am

Shattered Narrative

The recent claims made by Noreen Niazi, sister of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, completely expose Pakistan’s military myth-making and underline the widening gap between India’s capabilities and Islamabad’s illusions. In a widely circulated interview, Niazi challenged the official Pakistani account of the confrontation that followed the Pahalgam terror attack, claiming that the country’s military leadership concealed the true extent of India’s military advantage during Operation Sindoor...

Shattered Narrative

The recent claims made by Noreen Niazi, sister of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, completely expose Pakistan’s military myth-making and underline the widening gap between India’s capabilities and Islamabad’s illusions. In a widely circulated interview, Niazi challenged the official Pakistani account of the confrontation that followed the Pahalgam terror attack, claiming that the country’s military leadership concealed the true extent of India’s military advantage during Operation Sindoor last year. Her most striking assertion, that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “could have fixed Pakistan” had India chosen a more aggressive course, has predictably triggered fury in Pakistan because it strikes at the very foundation of the establishment’s self-image. Pakistan’s military establishment has always survived not merely through coercive power but the manufacture of perception. Its most enduring weapon been the narrative that Pakistan possesses an equal strategic footing with India despite the overwhelming differences in economic scale, technological capacity and military depth. That carefully constructed illusion has suffered a remarkable blow from a family member of Pakistan’s own most prominent political prisoner. Niazi’s remarks shatter the reputation of Pakistan’s most powerful institution — the army headquarters in Rawalpindi — and its current chief Asim Munir, considered the mastermind of the Pahalgam massacre. Pakistan’s generals have always presented themselves as the ultimate guardians of national security, using confrontation with India as both a strategic doctrine and a domestic political instrument. Niazi’s statements have thoroughly exposed this hollow claim. The statements also expose United States President Donald Trump’s repeated assertion that his intervention apparently helped bring an end to the confrontation, which saw the Indian armed forces striking deep into terror bases within Pakistan. The episode should also force a rethink within India. For months, sections of the domestic political ecosystem questioned the government’s handling of security matters, sometimes treating every military assertion through the prism of partisan suspicion. While a democracy must permit scrutiny, mindless scepticism cannot become reflexive cynicism, particularly when national security decisions are involved. The credibility of India’s armed forces cannot be reduced to domestic political contests. Nor can strategic assessments be shaped by ideological preferences. Countries are judged not by the volume of their arguments but by the strength of their institutions. The Pahalgam attack was intended to project vulnerability in India and undermine the confidence of a rising power. Instead, it produced the opposite effect. With Operation Sindoor, India demonstrated that it would make Pakistan’s terror affiliates pay dearly while retaining the diplomatic and military maturity to control escalation. The significance of this episode lies in the fact that the age in which Pakistan could use terror, brinkmanship and propaganda to maintain an artificial balance is drawing to a close. For decades, Islamabad relied on a combination of terror, international intervention and the assumption that India would exercise restraint regardless of provocation. That calculation has become hopelessly outdated.

India working on logistics of Tahawwur Rana's extradition

  • PTI
  • Feb 14, 2025
  • 3 min read

Updated: Feb 18, 2025

Tahawwur Rana

Washington: India is working on the logistics of Tahawwur Rana's surrender and extradition from the US, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri has said, as President Donald Trump announced that his administration has given the go-ahead to extradite the 26/11 terror attack accused “to face justice".

“This is an issue on which the US authorities have taken very clear decisions. I think you've seen the President announce it himself from the White House podium" the decision of the US to extradite Rana, Misri said at a press conference here on Thursday.


During a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the White House, US President Donald Trump announced that his administration has approved the extradition of "very evil" Tahawwur Rana, wanted by Indian law enforcement agencies for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, "to face justice in India”.


In response to a question by PTI on the timeframe by when Rana will be extradited to India, Misri said: "We are working on the logistics of his surrender and extradition to India. There are a few final steps to be completed. The two sides are in touch on this particular issue.”


The India-US joint statement issued during the Prime Minister's visit to the US notes that Modi and Trump reaffirmed that the global scourge of terrorism must be fought and terrorist safe havens eliminated from every corner of the world.

“They committed to strengthen cooperation against terrorist threats from groups, including Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Jaish-e Mohammad, and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba in order to prevent heinous acts like the attacks in Mumbai on 26/11 and the Abbey Gate bombing in Afghanistan on August 26, 2021," the joint statement said.


“Recognising a shared desire to bring to justice those who would harm our citizens, the US announced that the extradition to India of Tahawwur Rana has been approved," it said.


The leaders further called on Pakistan to expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai, and Pathankot attacks and ensure that its territory is not used to carry out cross-border terrorist attacks.

"The leaders also pledged to work together to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems and to deny access to such weapons by terrorists and non-state actors,” the joint statement added.

Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin, is currently lodged at a metropolitan detention centre in Los Angeles. He is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 attacks.

Speaking at the joint press meet, Trump said "Today I am pleased to announce that my administration has approved the extradition of one of the plotters and very evil people of the world, and having to do with the horrific Mumbai terrorist attack, to face justice in India. So, he is going back to India to face justice."


The extradition of Rana was cleared by the US Supreme Court in January as it rejected his review petition in the case.


India last month said it was working with American authorities for the early extradition of Rana.


"The US Supreme Court on January 21 declined to hear a petition from the accused. We are now working with the US side on procedural issues for early extradition to India of the accused in the Mumbai terror attack," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said.


In November 2012, Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving gunman among the Pakistani group, was hanged to death in Yerawada Jail in Pune.

-PTI

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