Letters: An efficient operation

Compliments for the brilliant, incisive and comprehensive editorial, "A decisive action" (September 30). You have covered all angles of the issue.

What was done on Wednesday night was the right response to the cowardly attack of September 18 at Uri: a quiet, no-fuss, efficient, swift operation aimed at terrorist camps. It speaks volumes about the intelligence gathering by our Army and its prowess to carry out a "surgical" strike. One must also laud the government for acting with maturity.

The idea of Director General Military Operations Ranbir Singh speaking with his Pakistani counterpart was brilliant. Whether Pakistan will take it in the right spirit - with reference to "their January 2004 commitment" - only time will tell. It's unlikely Pakistan would, considering its track record. We must be ready for retaliation. Considering that decisions in Pakistan are taken by the military and not the civilian government, there could be overt and covert retaliation on the border as well as within our country.

India's focus must now be on explaining its action to the international community, particularly China, the USA and Saudi Arabia - three countries that may play a crucial role in the near future.

"USA not naming Pakistan in the Uri attack" is a shame; but then we shouldn't expect too much from a nation in election mode. Despite China's recent announcement "to support Pakistan in the event of a military attack" its response to our surgical strike has been reasonable. That China is reaching out to both India and Pakistan through diplomatic channels and seeking restraint is a good sign.

For India to have accorded Most Favoured Nation status to Pakistan is a joke. This must be withdrawn. I remember the words of a chamber president in Pakistan in 2007, when our visiting delegation asked him why his country was not reciprocating. He said, "the term means sabse pyara mulk; ab aap hi bataiye kya hum yeh keh sakte hain (The term means most favoured nation; but can we say that)?"

Krishan Kalra, Gurgaon

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