India: We Will Respond Appropriately to Terrorist Attacks

Following an armed attack on an Indian Air Force base near the Pakistan border, India's Home Minister emphasized that they will respond appropriately to 'terrorist' attacks. Pakistan also condemned the attack. Reuters reported, citing Indian security officials, that in the early morning attack on Saturday, January 1, four attackers and two guards at the Pathankot airbase in Punjab were killed. This strategic airbase is located 50 kilometers from the Pakistan border. The Punjab region is divided between India and Pakistan. According to Indian security officials, the attackers, who were dressed in Indian army uniforms, managed to enter the base and began shooting in all directions. Reports indicate that the conflict lasted for several hours, and Indian Army helicopters were deployed to search for the attackers around the base. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet, but it occurred a week after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's unexpected meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. This meeting marked the first visit of an Indian Prime Minister to Pakistan in eleven years, where both sides discussed resuming talks to improve bilateral relations. India and Pakistan have disputes over the Kashmir region and have fought three wars since India's independence in 1947. Following the meeting, it was agreed that the foreign ministers of both countries would hold talks in Islamabad this month. Although no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, Reuters, citing Indian security sources, suggested that the attackers were likely members of 'Jaish-e-Mohammed.' This militant group, which has been declared illegal in Pakistan for several years, claims to fight against Indian sovereignty over parts of the Kashmir region. However, an official from India's Ministry of Home Affairs told Reuters that they cannot yet definitively say that this group was responsible for the attack, as drug trafficking groups are also present in Punjab. In response to the attack, an unnamed official from India's Ministry of Home Affairs stated that while armed attacks on police posts at the border with Pakistan are not unprecedented, the early morning attack on a significant military base poses a serious security threat and indicates that 'terrorists have adopted a new strategy of identifying Indian defense bases near the border and attacking them.' Concurrently, Rajnath Singh, India's Home Minister, stated in response to the early morning attack that India seeks peace with Pakistan but will respond appropriately to any terrorist attack. Pakistan also condemned the attack, with a spokesperson for its Foreign Ministry stating that 'Islamabad is willing to continue the process of improving relations between the two countries based on the goodwill created after the recent meeting of the two Prime Ministers and is committed to combating terrorism in cooperation with India and other regional countries.'