Union home minister Amit Shah recently detailed the killing of three terrorists in the forests of Dachigam, and recounted the forensic evidence linking them to the Pahalgam attack. Much is yet to be revealed about their movements and their handlers as their communication sets and other electronic equipment are examined. What is certain is that these are highly trained terrorists, almost irregular, able to virtually disappear into the forests and with little contact with the population. More such groups are understood to be in the forests, waiting for a signal to move.

In this context, we must evaluate India’s new doctrine, which states that any terrorist attack will be considered an act of war, and retaliation not just against terrorists, but also against their backers. That’s a much-needed drawing of red lines in the face of a persistent terrorist threat. But wars of any kind, limited or otherwise, are an expensive business, in this case, requiring almost continuous military readiness. Certainly, it can be done, and actions towards that are well in hand. But ideally, it would be as well to prevent terrorists from gaining their objectives in the first place. That means dealing with it in its entire spectrum.

First, it is now obvious that the Pahalgam attack had several simultaneous objectives. In descending order, the first was to light a fire in Kashmir that would end the influx of tourists into Kashmir, and to coerce the security forces to once again launch forceful counter terrorism (CT) operations in the Valley. Both are linked issues, and both have the potential to send........

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