New Delhi, May 11 In the backdrop of the Pahalgam attack, putting the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance was central to a strong political message sent by the Narendra Modi Government to Pakistan on the “cost of terrorism”, said a top government functionary on Sunday.
Apart from the political vector, the leadership also thought and acted upon a military and a psychological vector while responding to the April 22 attack that left 26 civilians dead.
Indian government’s strategists believe the message sent through the suspension of the waters treaty is that of raising the “costs of terrorism for Pakistan in a fashion that is unprecedented”.
“What needs to be focused upon is why we were driven to put in abeyance the Indus Waters Treaty, which had survived three wars and four-decade-long campaign of cross-border terrorism,” said an official, on condition of anonymity.
“Pakistan cannot expect that cooperation will continue in areas where it chooses, and it can continue to carry on with its campaign of cross-border terrorism as it chooses elsewhere; there has to be a cost. I think it's been put together well that blood and water cannot flow together,” said the official.
Even while taking military action post-Pahalgam, the government think tank wanted to raise the bar and not remain limited to the kind of retaliation that followed earlier terror attacks like Pulwama or Uri.
“Just as with the political side, there was a need to raise the bar on the military side, also it was important to act in a way that would demonstrate the changed thinking and demonstrate the extent to which a line had been crossed,” said the official explaining the reason behind precision targeting of nine terror assets in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Sources pointed out that three targets -- Bahawalpur, Muridke and Bhutta -- out of the nine targets hold special significance due to the Pakistani establishment’s complicity.
“Now, why are these facilities significant? I would say that one thing that joins all these facilities together is that they are all intimately tied to the Pakistani deep state,” said the official.
“All put together the importance of the military targets is underlined by the fact that these were all aimed at groups that have long history of activity in India, whether it be Jammu and Kashmir or anywhere else, and, therefore, it was important to send a message to them that we will hit you, and we will hit you in your heartland. That was a very, very clear message that was needed to be sent,” said the official.
Talking about the psychological vector, the official said, though initially, it was not our intention to escalate, we felt that we had to raise the military costs for Pakistan after it attempted attacks at 26 places on May 10.
“Indian armed forces responded with what I can only call hellfire,” said the official, adding that this was the moment when the realisation dawned on them that this was going to be a losing battle.
The official said all three vectors -- political, military and psychological -- were aimed at creating and setting a new normal in the relationship.
“It is not business as usual. There is a new normal in the relationship, and Pakistan will have to get used to that. The world will have to get used to that,” said the official, hinting that the psychological messaging from Operation Sindoor was as much for the world as it was for Pakistan.
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