The Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists who attacked Mumbai on November 26 may have been sent to the city on a suicide mission but there were several indications during the 60-hour siege that they were willing to consider using their hostages as bargaining pawns. But let alone have trained negotiators on hand to try and convince the attackers to surrender, the Mumbai police and Central security agencies involved in the counter-attack did not even consider using negotiations as a strategy to buy time.

In fact, within the first few hours of the attack, Maharashtra Director General of Police A N Roy went public saying there would be “no negotiations”, indicating a tough posture and lack of a gameplan to seek a possible peaceful end. For a city with two IPS officers trained in the US to negotiate with hostage-takers, and with a similar unit available with security officials at the Mumbai airport, this was yet another instance of how the initial shock of the devastating attack hurt strategic coherence.

The first indication that the Lashkar men were considering taking hostages and making demands became available in a phone conversation between the terrorists in the Taj Mahal Hotel and their handlers in Pakistan. According to transcripts of the conversation accessed by The Indian Express, the call was made at 3.10 am on November 27, less than six hours after the four attackers had stormed the hotel and occupied the heritage wing:

Receiver: Greetings!

Caller: Greetings! There are three ministers and one secretary of the cabinet in your hotel. We don't know in which room.

... contd.