By Manish Chand, IANS,
Addis Ababa: India Monday said the attack on a Pakistani military base in Karachi was the handiwork of those opposing the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan and underscored the internal divide in Pakistan over the Afghan war, a situation fraught with danger for New Delhi’s security.
“It was a very organised assault on Pakistan’s security forces. It’s part of the Taliban war against those who are associated in Pakistan with the battle against the Afghan Taliban,” Indian officials, who have accompanied Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Ethiopia, said here.
“They are attacking part of the security machine in Pakistan which has been associated with the war against Afghanistan,” he said.
The Karachi attack, sources feel, is a reminder to India about the ever-present threat to its security from forces inimical to India’s interests in the neighbouring country. The attack, coming as it did three weeks after the killing of terror mastermind Osama bin Laden by the US forces in Abbotabad, has led to Indian officials reviewing the security situation.
Sources stressed that India has ramped up coastal security and scaled up maritime policing following the 26/11 attack. The Karachi attack has further reinforced the need to beef up coastal security, the sources said.
Alluding to the precarious security situation in Afghanistan, Indian officials said New Delhi was alert to the possibility of terror attacks targeting its facilities in Afghanistan. “We have always been under threat. The primary threat comes from those who attacked us in Kabul,” the sources said.
Manmohan Singh visited Afghanistan May 12 where he announced another $500 million assistance for the violence-ravaged country and underlined New Delhi’s unflinching resolve to continue with its activities.
In New Delhi, Home Minister P. Chidambaram underlined that the attack on the Karachi base that began late Sunday and lasted for 15 hours, has highlighted the fact that India lives in a troubled neighbourhood.
“I have described our neighbourhood as a troubled neighbourhood. This incident once against points to that conclusion that our neighbourhood is a troubled neighbourhood,” he said at a press conference here when asked to comment on the attack in Pakistan.
“We have to remain constantly on vigil and we remain vigilant round the clock,” he said.
He added that India was “not happy” about the Karachi incident. “In fact, we are sad that lives are lost. But that is today a troubled State.