12-15-2008, 07:52 AM
<b>Back from the brink </b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->As Parliament debated the issue, indications from South Block were that India might move to cancel the dialogue process, while holding out the threat of surgical strikes on terror camps. In fact, a quick assessment made in the war room in <b>South Block revealed that most targets were within India's artillery (45km) or Prithvi (250km) range. "We can inflict punishment without crossing the border or LoC," said an Army officer.</b>
All the same,<b> India's attempt was not to fall into the trap set by the ISI and the Pak army, who wanted to enter into some sort of a truce with the insurgents on the Afghan border and move east</b>. Interestingly, an all-party meeting held in Islamabad after the Indian sabre-rattling took note of a report that quoted an army official that the problems between Pakistan and the Taliban were based on "miscommunication and misunderstanding" and that Taliban leaders like Baitullah Mahsud and Jalaluddin Haqqani were great Pakistani patriots who would fight alongside the army against India. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
All the same,<b> India's attempt was not to fall into the trap set by the ISI and the Pak army, who wanted to enter into some sort of a truce with the insurgents on the Afghan border and move east</b>. Interestingly, an all-party meeting held in Islamabad after the Indian sabre-rattling took note of a report that quoted an army official that the problems between Pakistan and the Taliban were based on "miscommunication and misunderstanding" and that Taliban leaders like Baitullah Mahsud and Jalaluddin Haqqani were great Pakistani patriots who would fight alongside the army against India. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->