As opposed to the terrorist attacks on Mumbai on November 26, 2008 that resulted in the curtailment of the Indo-Pakistani dialogue, this time it appears that the synchronized terror blasts in Mumbai on Wednesday will not postpone bilateral talks on the foreign minister level scheduled for July 26.
No one is pushing the vacuous line that calling off talks would play into the hands of the terrorists, nor is the Indian government, as opposed to the BJP opposition, hurrying to point an accusing finger at Pakistan.
One reason is that the identity of the perpetrators has not yet been established and a likely suspect is an organization comprised of homegrown Indian Muslim terrorists. The Congress-dominated government treads warily on this issue, both because Congress prides itself on being a secular party open to all religions and secondly because Congress has benefited from the electoral support of the Moslem minority.
Another reason is that the Pakistani leadership has already expressed its severe condemnation of the attacks in statements by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani. The two leaders also expressed "their deepest sympathies to the Indian leadership on the loss of lives, injuries and damage to property in Mumbai.
A third problem with attacking Pakistan is the question of what Pakistan? One would be hard put to claim that the civilian leadership of Pakistan has a handle on extremist violence at home, let alone the ability to control and influence activity in India. The Pakistani ISI-Inter-Service Intelligence that may have backed the terrorists is a virtual state within a state, as the Americans learned with Osama bin Laden.
Congress was embarrassed because the bombings occurred after Home Minister P. Chidambaram had boasted that the first half of 2011 was the most peaceful in the last decade.
Another problem for the Congress was that in the wake of the 2008 terrorism it was to have invested great resources in terror fighting apparatus. While there were improvements over 2008, the general consensus was that the system was still not up to par.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that while the government could be credited with blocking 99% of the terror attacks, it was impossible to prevent all of them. The best policy was to keep a stiff upper lip and show the terrorists that they could not disrupt society. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took the traditional approach of promising to bring the culprits to swift justice.
The BJP reserved its most withering criticism for Gandhi. BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy told the press in New Delhi."I think this is a statement which will demoralize the people…the government should have exhibited a firm commitment to fight terror which is completely absent and its most unfortunate to face and hear statements, from the leaders of Congress party, like this."
Another spokesperson, Prakash Javdekar, attacked the supposed improvement in the terror fighting apparatus. The government, despite creating a large system after 26/11 2008, remained "clueless on what is going on… A strong political will and determination is needed to fight terror."
The octogenarian BJP leader, LK Advani, claimed that it was necessary to investigate the links with Pakistan. Even if the terrorists were indigenous, "they get their support from Pakistan", he said. He called for a cessation of the Indo Pakistani talks as they would prove fruitless as long as the terrorist apparatus had not been dismantled in Pakistan. Finally he suggested that ISI be declared a terrorist organization.