Assembling credible evidence on the involvement of Pakistan’s security agencies in the planning and conduct of the war against Mumbai does not in any way mean that India can expect genuine counter-terror cooperation from across the border or automatic pressure from the international community on Islamabad. These are objectives that India will have to win by the dint of its diplomatic persuasion and the credibility of its threat to use force against Pakistan.

Constructing a convincing case on Pakistan’s involvement in the Mumbai attacks is an important but small part of India’s effort to compel Islamabad to act against anti-India terror groups. That the heat from India’s political campaign is getting to the Pakistan leadership is evident from the sacking of its national security adviser, the retired Major General Mahmud Ali Durrani, on Wednesday.

India must now start raising the temperature. It must remember when formulating its post-Mumbai strategy, however, that this is not a Bollywood court-room drama, where the good guys win the argument and the bad guys go to jail. New Delhi should not forget even for a moment that there is no higher international authority that is about to prosecute and sentence those guilty of the Mumbai aggression. In the world of sovereign states, the burdens of justice and retribution belong entirely to governments which must exercise the political will to use force against another, with all the attendant risks.

To be sure, there is the bar of international public opinion that shapes the political context of India’s post-Mumbai actions. It is in New Delhi’s own interest to exhaust all other options before resorting to its right of self-defence against Pakistan.

... contd.