Even as the military operation got underway, the government was working the phones to manage the diplomatic fallout of the LoC strikes in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The first call between National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval and U.S. NSA Susan Rice took place at about 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday. While officials refused to confirm whether the NSA informed Ms Rice of the exact nature of the operation that were already underway, their conversation put to rest two questions: India made it clear that it did not intend to escalate to a conflict even if it launched “pre-emptive” counter-terror strikes, and according to senior government officials, the U.S. didn’t intend to restrain India in any way. Mr Doval’s call followed two calls by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj over the past few days to discuss the situation.
Hours later, the government went to work explaining its actions to other countries as well. Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar held a briefing for envoys of 22 countries including the P-5 (Permanent members of the Security Council — U.S., U.K., Russia, China, France) Germany, Japan, and key neighbouring countries and West Asian countries about the developments. A separate briefing was held for former Indian diplomats, retired officials and think-tank analysts who will take forward the government’s stand on public platforms and the media.
Pak. ignored concernsThe government explained that even before the Uri attacks, the government had brought to Pakistan’s notice the increasing number of infiltration attempts across the LoC, counting at least 19 attempts and several planned attacks in the past two months. “Each time we were met with condescension and denial”, an official is believed to have said at one of several briefings held through Thursday.
In the past week after the Uri attack in which 19 soldiers were killed, the Foreign Secretary had called in Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit twice. On both occasions, India had offered finger prints and other details of the attackers’ bodies so Pakistan could try and identify them. However, the offer was met with no reply.
When asked about the threat of sparking a full-fledged conflict with Pakistan, the official is believed to have said, “Fear of escalation cannot be a reason for passively accepting acts of violence,” but added that India had no desire to conduct further operations.
High-profile vistsIndia is expected to step up its diplomatic offensive in the next few days, reaching out to all countries who have viewed the rising tensions at the LoC. Next week, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremsinghe, as well as Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong are scheduled to visit Delhi. At least 10 heads of State and government will attend the BRICS summit in mid-October in Goa, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Putin, Bangladesh Premier Sheikh Hasina and Myanmar Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi.
New Delhi has already received support on its move to pull out of the SAARC summit with Pakistan from Afghanistan, Bhutan and Bangladesh following suit, and on Wednesday, Bangladesh officials said they backed India’s action across the LoC. “India has all legal and globally accepted rights to respond to any attack on her sovereignty and territory,” said Iqbal Chowdhury, advisor to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, adding that “Bangladesh always feels that in these type of things, there should be restraint from all sides.”
