Failure of both the US and India to impose accountability or establish deterrence on Pakistan has encouraged the country to "continue a policy of backing extremists" in both India and Afghanistan, a leading American daily has said.
The Washington Post in an editorial in the aftermath of Pulwama attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) said India is confronted with a dilemma that both it and the US have repeatedly faced: what to do about the sponsorship of Islamist terrorist groups by Pakistan, a nuclear-armed state?
"Diplomacy, sanctions and targeted military strikes haven't worked; full-scale war is unthinkable. Yet the failure to impose accountability or establish deterrence only encourages the Pakistani military and its intelligence service to continue a policy of backing extremists in both India and Afghanistan," it said.
The editorial underlined that Pakistan is unlikely to act on any evidence provided by India on the Pulwama attack.
"If the record of past terrorist attacks in India is any indication, Pakistan will not act even if evidence is provided. The same has been true of its response to terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, such as assaults on the US Embassy and other Western targets by a Taliban faction known as the Haqqani network, which Pakistan is also believed to support," it said.
Pakistan has long sought to use terrorists to gain leverage over India, with which it disputes control of Kashmir, and the US, which it would like to force to accept rule by the Taliban in Afghanistan, the daily said.
"It is making headway on the latter goal with the Trump administration, which has been negotiating with the Taliban about withdrawing US troops. That increases the complications for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who faces a national election in the coming months," it said.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)