'If Indian armed forces entered Pakistan and succeeded in inflicting major damage on the Pakistani army and occupied territory in the Pakistani heartland, there is reason to think the Pakistani military would use some nuclear weapons against the incoming Indian forces to compel India to stop.'
We asked colleagues, present and past, to reflect on a man who has made such a difference to their lives and careers. Here it is then, a rich collection of memories that offer enchanting glimpses of the enigmatic Ajit Balakrishnan.
The serial blasts in Mumbai on Wednesday night were the handiwork of the Inter Services Intelligence which is trying to spread terror in India, believes Girish Chander Saxena, former governor of Jammu and Kashmir and former chief of the Intelligence Bureau. "I have little doubt that the incidents in Mumbai and the one Pulwama in Kashmir, in which three top terrorists including two persons of Pakistan origin and a local militants were killed by security forces, could be linked
The war of words between Pakistan and the United States on the Inter-Services Intelligence's alleged links with the Haqqani terror network escalated on Friday with Pakistan Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani describing US military chief Admiral Mike Mullen's accusations as "not based on facts".
India on Tuesday strongly objected to Pakistan's attempt to link Kashmir issue to terrorism in the region and maintained that the bilateral dialogue would resume only when Islamabad creates conditions for it. "It (terrorism) has nothing to do with Kashmir. Terror, whether it is in Kashmir, in Mumbai or elsewhere, is abominable," External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said. He was responding to Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani's remarks.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf activists staged a protest after Khan was disqualified by the Election Commission of Pakistan in the prohibited funding case last year.
Former Central Intelligence Agency South Asia analyst, Lisa Curtis, now a Senior Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, recalled how in 1995, when she served in Islamabad as a diplomat, the Pakistan-based terror groups that were funded, armed and supported by the Inter-Services Intelligence specifically to launch attacks in Kashmir against Indian security forces, also had strong links to the Taliban.
As the Pakistani government cracks down on terrorists linked to the Mumbai carnage, the media in the country has embarked on a 'soul-searching' exercise, with questions being raised as to why the Islamic nation has become the 'hub of militancy and terrorism'.
In a confidential report, the Jammu and Kashmir police has accused moderate Hurriyat Conference leader Shabir Ahmed Shah of having links with Pakistan-based terror group Lashker-e-Tayiba. In the report to the state Home Department, the police have suggested some pro-active measures to curb the anti-national activities of separatist leaders and also slapped the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act against pro-Pakistan leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
'This is something the ISI would have wanted to prevent. There was no direct ISI involvement whatsoever,' claims American national security expert Harlan Ullman, who has close links with the Pakistani government and military.
Opposition parties slammed the amendment, saying the new law was "draconian" and could be misused against anyone opposed to the ruling establishment.
At least six suspected 'masterminds' of the Mumbai terror attacks are still at large in Pakistan and there is mounting evidence of the Inter Services Intelligence's strong links to the 2008 strikes, an investigative report said on Monday.
The IP (internet protocol) address of the sender has been traced to Pakistan, said the official.
At a time when China is trying to make its foray into South Asia, India should use its shared history to strengthen its ties in the region, says Dr Rup Narayan Das.
Former Home Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday attacked Home Minister Rajnath Singh accusing him of resorting to a completely distorting Hindu terror remarks to blame the former UPA government.
New Delhi has reached out to neighbours like seldom before while singling Islamabad for criticism at international forums.
The Pentagon has conceded that some elements of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence is supporting the terrorist networks in the country, thus undermining the war against terrorism by the United States-led international forces in the region.
'If India had used its diplomatic leverage after 26/11, we had lots in our favour but we abandoned it. The world thinks we are not serious about handling terror,' says security analyst Maroof Raza.
India should share any concrete evidence of Pakistani links to the Mumbai terror attacks so that the two countries can resolve the issue with seriousness, opposition Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif said on Tuesday.India has not blamed Pakistan government for the attacks in Mumbai, Sharif told reporters after a meeting in Islamabad with Indian High Commissioner Satyabrata Pal.
They continue to be implicated in investigations of terrorism suspects half a world away, most recently the group Jamaat ud Dawa in the London airplane bombing plot.
The specter of terrorism has returned to haunt Karnataka. The Karnataka police recently arrested a cook and a medical student for having strong terror links. The duo revealed that they had plans of bombing the Hubli airport. During the interrogation of Mohammad Ghouse and his friend Assadullah Abbubukar, the police learnt that Ghouse's father Naseeruddin Mohammad is a Lashkar e Toiba operative and has received training in Pakistan.
Those released are among the nearly 500 men presumed to have disappeared into the hands of the Pakistani secret agencies cooperating with Washington's fight against terrorism since 2001, the report quoted human rights groups and lawyers in Islamabad as saying.
Investigators had not yet found any conclusive evidence to suggest that India was involved in recent terror attacks on the Sri Lankan cricket team and a police training centre near Lahore, Pakistan's Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik has said.
Jamaat-ud-Dawa is under the scanner again. Banned afer being accused of having terror links following the Mumbai terror attacks, the outfit attacks has resurfaced at the centre of the aid effort to help hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing Pakistan's war on the Taliban.
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Wednesday said that the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation members should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity and seek no unilateral military superiority in adjacent areas.
Specially designated global terrorist Sirajuddin Haqqani, who carries a reward of $10 million US bounty on his head, is the acting interior minister while his uncle -- Khalil Haqqani -- has been named as acting minister for refugees.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday assured the country that the beginning of building a "new and developed Kashmir" that will be free from terrorism has been made under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that full statehood would be restored to Jammu and Kashmir at an appropriate time.
The FBI has provided access to agents from India's domestic and external intelligence agencies to the information it has gathered on David Headley and his associate Tahawwur Husain Rana, who is also in the FBI's custody.
Pakistan on Thursday accused India of using the Pathankot terror attack as an "excuse" to derail the bilateral dialogue process and said that talks are the best way forward to resolve outstanding issues, including "mutual concerns" related to terrorism.
The Delhi Police's Special Cell on Tuesday busted a Pakistan-organised terror module with the arrest of six men, including two ISI trained terrorists.
Bhartiya Janata party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar, has urged the government expose Pakistan after David Headly told the Chicago trial court about the links between Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence and various terror groups during the preliminary hearing of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba's Mumbai attack.
'While military acts such as the Uri surgical strikes are one option, cultural, economic and diplomatic isolation should also be part of the arsenal,' argues Sankrant Sanu.
"We will raise voice for Kashmiris brothers and sisters at every forum, diplomatic efforts will be made, they will be provided diplomatic support, we will give them moral support," he added.
On the backdrop of surgical strike, the US advised caution given the heavy militarisation between the two neighbours.
Modi held Pakistan directly responsible for the Uri attack.
Insisting that it had shared with India terror-related inputs it deemed were 'potentially credible' to its national security, the United States on Saturday said it was looking into media reports that Federal Bureau of Investigation had prior knowledge of David Coleman Headley's links with terror groups in Pakistan.
Rahami travelled to Pakistan in April 2013 and returned in March of the following year, according to a federal official.
How to deal with a country that has made export of terror a reason to make the world notice and fund it? Rediff.com contributor Sanjeev Nayyar offers a few suggestions
The officials said that the recently developed SH-15, a 155 mm truck-mounted howitzer gun, has also been spotted at some places along the Line of Control after it was displayed on Pakistan Day last year.
