Indian Army's Surgical Strike Across LoC Was Carefully Measured: Experts

Washington: The Indian surgical strike inside Pak Occupied Kashmir (PoK) against terrorist planning to sneak into India for terrorist activities was "carefully measured", a top American think-tank said today, adding the onus for escalation lies purely on Pakistan.

"This Indian response was indeed coming. Both as a signal to Pakistan and as reassurance for Indian domestic audiences. Indian PM Narendra Modi could not let the outrage at Uri go unanswered," Ashley Tellis of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a top American think-tank said.

"The Indian action was carefully measured: striking at terrorist launch pads was meant to signal that India has not lost its freedom to retaliate, but puts the onus of further escalation on Pakistan," Tellis told PTI.

Responding to a question, Tellis said the US will, counsel restraint, but unless the administration is willing to turn the screws on Pakistan--which is unlikely--India will be guided by its own interests, not American pleas for forbearance.

"I think Pakistan has its hands full right now, it is unlikely to respond to the Indian action militarily, but the larger sub-conventional war against India will continue," Tellis said.

Rick Rossow from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) recalled that the hint of such strikes as a possible tool last year, when the Indian Army initiated an attack against militants in Myanmar.

"India has also shown other new tools in its confrontation with Pakistan, such as withdrawing from the upcoming SAARC summit, building stronger ties with other South Asian nations, and using closer security ties with the US as a hook to press for reduced military cooperation with Pakistan," he said.

"This will likely keep Islamabad on its toes, though when employing new tools in such a struggle, clear messaging is key so both sides know the others' intentions. This will guard against unanticipated escalation," Rossow said.

According to him, following a number of recent provocations that India has linked to Pakistan-based militant groups, the government of prime minister Narendra Modi has employed a different set of tools to respond to these incitements.

"These tools may not be altogether new, but the fact that they have been the focus of India's response to Pakistan's incitements marks a different approach," he said.

Rossow said while the Indian Ministry of Defence has stated it does not plan additional strikes, it is not clear whether the current tensions between India and Pakistan will escalate further.

"There is certainly little expectation that Pakistani militants, under varying degrees of control by Pakistan's military, will be deterred from initiating further attacks. But the costs to Islamabad of supporting terrorism are increasing, and taking different forms than before," Rossow said.

State Department Spokesman, John Kirby, said, "We continue to urge actions to combat and de-legitimise terrorist groups like LeT, and Haqqani Network, Jaish-E-Mohammed. So, this is something that we're obviously keenly focused on.”

Counter-terrorism co-operation, he said, is something that the United States is always working at with its partners in the region.

"We're always trying to get better at combating terrorism in the region. There are many ways you can do that, you know, through information sharing regimens and increasing communication between all parties involved," he said.

But he refused to entertain question on if there was any co-operation between India and the United States on the latest Indian operation.

"I don't have a specific laundry list here to read out to you because, frankly, it's something that we've been constantly working at with our partners in the region," he said.

Kirby said America's message to both sides has been the same in terms of encouraging them to increase communication to deal with this threat and to avoid steps that escalate the tensions.

"I think I'm not going to get into characterising each and every step along the way there. But obviously, what we want to see is increased cooperation against what is a very shared common threat for both countries, and to see steps being taken to deal with it by all sides," Kirby said.

Meanwhile the US Ambassador to India, Richard Verma, who was in Washington DC has rushed back to New Delhi.

"As far as I know, he's returning to New Delhi. My understanding is that he believed that it was, appropriate for him to go back. He has got a big job. There a lot of responsibilities that come with it. And, obviously it's a very dynamic situation and he felt it was prudent to go back. We support that," Kirby said.