WASHINGTON, May 24: India is moving towards diplomatically isolating Pakistan and is considering punitive actions against it for allegedly supporting cross-border terrorism, a top US defence intelligence chief said.
According to a Times of India (TOI) report, Director Defence Intelligence Agency Lieutenant General Vincent Stewart said India was updating its military to better position itself to defend New Delhi’s interests in the Indian Ocean region and strengthen its diplomatic and economic outreach across Asia.
“India has sought and continues to move to isolate Pakistan diplomatically and is considering punitive options to raise the cost to Islamabad for its alleged support to cross-border terrorism,” Lt Stewart said during the US Senate Armed Services Committee on worldwide threats.
The Indian army claimed on Tuesday that it had destroyed several Pakistani posts across the LoC. However, the Pakistan Army has rubbished Indian claims.
Lt Stewart said that bilateral ties between Islamabad and New Delhi worsened after several terrorist attacks took place in India.
“Continued threat of high-level terror attacks in India, violence in Kashmir and bilateral diplomatic recriminations will further strain India-Pakistan ties in 2017,” he predicted.
“In 2016, Indian and Pakistani forces exchanged some of the heaviest fire in years along the Line of Control [LoC] in Kashmir, and each expelled a number of the other’s diplomats amid growing tension,” the US defence intelligence chief said.
According to him, in 2017, Pakistan is likely to gradually move from traditional counterinsurgency actions along its western border to more counter-terrorism and paramilitary assaults throughout the country that have had some success in reducing violence.-Agencies
