Combatting Cross-Border

Terrorism: Need for a Doctrinal

Approach

Dhruv C Katoch

The use of force or threat of use of force must flow from national policy
goals and objectives. In the Indian context, for a country struggling to find
its soul from centuries of foreign domination, the primary strategic objective
would of necessity, remain the human development of its people, which, in
turn, would require a durable peace. The national approach to conflict must,
hence, aim, first and foremost, at deterrence and dissuasion to enable peace.
In the event of conflict, the aim must be for early conflict resolution, with
adequate conflict control mechanisms in place to reduce the risk of
escalation. War capability must encompass both the capacity and the will to
wage war. It would require a well-trained and equipped force to meet such
national policy objectives.1
All sovereign states pursue their perceived national interest. At the apex
level, a nation’s vital interests would encompass matters pertaining to
territorial integrity, state sovereignty, and the security of its people. In India,
all three of these stand effectively challenged today by non-state actors.
While most of these non-state actors have come up on indigenous narratives,
some are promoted, propped or supported by nation states inimical to India.
This has given rise to internal conflict in Jammu and

Major General Dhruv C Katoch (Retd) is Director, Centre for Land Warfare Studies, New Delhi.

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Dhruv C Katoch

Kashmir (J&K), parts of Northeast India and in the hinterland where Maoist
violence has spread to many districts. In the above internal security
paradigm of India, conflict is promoted in the state of J&K by the active
support given by Pakistan to various terrorist organisations such as the
Lashkar-e-Tayyeba, (LeT), Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) and others. These
organisations have their bases in Pakistan where they are trained, financed
and equipped to carry out terror strikes not only in J&K but in other parts of
the country as well. The violence which started in J&K in the late Eighties,
and which continues until date, as also terror strikes across various parts of
India are a result of such support.

The Threat to India

Pakistan’s interference in J&K started soon after independence when it sent
armed raiders to wrest the state by force. Timely action by the Indian state,
through employment of the Army, threw out the raiders beyond the present
Line of Control (LoC), but that has not prevented Pakistan from continuing
with its efforts to seize the state by force. Pakistani politicians have
consistently advocated hard line and confrontational policies against India
over the Kashmir issue. This led to the second India-Pakistan War in
September 1965, when Pakistan again sent armed infiltrators into J&K in an
operation codenamed “Gibraltar”. The infiltrators hoped to create a local
uprising against the Indian state as a prelude to the Pakistan Army moving in
and annexing J&K by force. The early detection and neutralisation of these
infiltrators, however, put paid to such Pakistani hopes. India also retaliated
by widening the conflict through offensive operations across the
International Border (IB) into the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Sindh.
Perturbed at this development, Pakistan’s then Foreign Minister, Zulfikar Ali
Bhutto, in a fiery speech delivered at the UN Security Council, condemned
India for aggression and declared his nation’s intent to “fight for a thousand
years”.2
Gen Zia-ul-Haq, in a sinister, well thought out strategy to “bleed

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 Combatting Cross-Border Terrorism

India through a thousand cuts” gave form to Bhutto’s promise of a thousand-

year war. The provocative statements of both Bhutto and Zia are not mere
rhetoric; they comprise the core of Pakistani ideology and are the raison
d’être for its existence. Zia’s policy took shape after he had deposed Bhutto
in a coup in July 1977, assuming the office of President of Pakistan a year
later on September 16, 1978.3 Realising that Pakistan could no longer wrest
Kashmir from India by force after the disaster of the 1971 War which led to
the break-up of Pakistan and the creation of Bangladesh, he embarked on a
new policy to promote terrorism within India through “a thousand cuts” in
Kashmir. Cross-border terrorism started in the Eighties with Pakistan
pushing in armed and well-trained groups of terrorists into India,
maintaining at the same time that terrorism was the “freedom struggle” of
the people of Kashmir and Pakistan had no hand in it beyond providing
moral support. But the truth tumbled out when a Director-General of the
Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) told the Pakistan National Assembly that the
ISI had been sponsoring such support in Kashmir.4

Zia’s tenure as head of state from 1977 to 1988 was a period of Islamic
ferment in Pakistan brought on by the unequivocal emphasis given by him to
Islamising the state. In 1987, during the latter half of the Zia years, the
Dawat-ul-Irshad Markaz was established by Hafiz Saeed and Zafar Iqbal,
both professors from the Engineering University at Lahore, spurred no doubt
by the impact of the Zia years. The third founding father was Abdullah
Azam, an Arab from the International Islamic University, Islamabad. Azam
died two years later, killed in a bomb blast in Peshawar. 5 The Dawat-ul-
Irshad Markaz [since renamed Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD)] is an adherent to the
principles of Sunni Wahhabism and seeks primarily to establish a universal
Islamic caliphate with a special emphasis on recovering all lands that were
once under Muslim rule. This explains its focus on India as the country’s
achievement in becoming an economically dynamic, multi-ethnic, and
secular democracy remains

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Dhruv C Katoch

India’s growing
an affront to its vision of a universal Islamic
counter-
caliphate. There was no dearth of volunteers,
terrorism
collaboration funding and state support for the Dawat-ul-with the United
Irshad and the organisation’s desire to engage
West in general
States and the simultaneously in tableegh (preaching) and jihad
(armed struggle) found manifestation
deepened the
in different ways from the moment of its
incentives
founding.6 The LeT was formed as the armed
for LeT-ISI
collaboration. wing of the Dawat-ul-Irshad. The latter continues to
receive considerable support from its state patron Pakistan and its principal
intelligence agency, the ISI
Directorate. Moreover, India’s growing counter-terrorism collaboration with
the United States and the West in general deepened the incentives for LeT-ISI
collaboration.
Besides the LeT, other formidable jihadi organisations, which receive
support from Pakistan’s ISI, are the Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) and the
Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), which also functions as the Lashkar-e-
Jhangvi (LeJ) and Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ). The focus of the LeT and
JeM is on India, especially on annexing Kashmir, while the SSP/LeJ/ ASWJ
conglomerate aims to eliminate Shiism by systematically killing Shiites. The
leadership of all these organisations is based in Pakistan’s Punjab province,
but they have an all Pakistan presence.7

It is, thus, self-evident that a variety of jihadi organisations based in

Pakistan and supported by the state have a specific anti-India agenda. The
purpose of the LeT was to inspire jihadism among the world’s Muslims. When
conflict was imposed on Kashmir, Saeed focussed his nascent organisation on
promoting terror in the state of J&K, and in the process, earned the support
of the ISI, as also the continued support of the Saudi backers who had helped
him establish the group in the first place. 8 The fact that the state continues to
support anti-India elements is evident in the fact that the Chief Minister of
Pakistan’s

4 CLAWS Journal l Winter 2013

 Combatting Cross-Border Terrorism

The purpose
of the LeT
was to inspire
jihadism
among the
world’s
Muslims.

Punjab province, soon after coming to power, in his

budget for 2010-11, allotted Rs 86 million to the JuD,
defying the ban on the organisation by the federal
government. The JuD, it must be remembered is the
very organisation that was involved in the horrific
Mumbai attacks and Ajmal Kasab, the only terrorist
who was caught alive was trained at Muridke.9 The
JuD sees India’s rapid
growth as an impediment to its core objective of recovering the “lost Muslim
lands” en route to the recreation of its Islamic caliphate. It remains a core
belief among Pakistani jihadis that India must be destroyed, this view also
receiving state patronage. It was Hafiz Saeed who declared in a 1999
interview, “Jihad is not about Kashmir only… Today, I announce the break-
up of India, Insha-Allah. We will not rest until the whole [of] India is
dissolved into Pakistan.”10 This thought process remains ingrained in the
jihadi psyche, as evidenced by the recent utterances of Saeed. While the
purpose of this article is not to trace the role of Pakistan based jihadi
organisations in cross-border terrorism, it is important to understand that the
Pakistani state treats such organisations as strategic assets and will continue
to support them. Speaking at a seminar in New Delhi in October 2011, Mr
UK Bansal, Secretary (Internal Security) in the Union Home Ministry stated,
“This (jihadi) brand of terrorism is primarily sponsored by our
neighbouring country in the west whose... policy is to conduct war against
India by all other means and bleed us through a thousand cuts. This
naturally includes the targeting of anything...with a view to damaging,
degrading or destroying the engines of economic growth and critical centres
of power and strength of our country.”11India needs to find suitable response
mechanisms to prevent and motivate the state of Pakistan to desist from
providing such support.

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Dhruv C Katoch

The “Proactive
Doctrine” has
been remarkably
successful and
Pakistan is yet to
come up with an
appropriate
response, despite
conducting a series
of exercises over
the last few years.

The Need for a Doctrine

The threat to India is self-evident, despite
Pakistani protestations to the contrary. India’s
response to Pakistani support to jihadi groups
led its military to formulate its “Proactive
Doctrine”, the genesis of which lay in events
that occurred post the attack by Pakistan
sponsored terrorists on India’s Parliament on
December 13, 2001. India’s response to such a
blatant attack on the very temple of democracy
was to mobilise
its forces along the western border as a precursor to taking punitive action
against Pakistan. The codename given to this mobilisation was “Operation
Parakaram”, but the long lead-time taken to mobilise forces for conventional
conflict eventually denied India the opportunity of using them. This brought
home the need to reduce the lead time required to initiate hostilities, giving
rise in due course to the “Proactive Doctrine” of the Indian Army, also
referred to by many, though incorrectly, as the “Cold Start Doctrine”.

The “Proactive Doctrine” has been remarkably successful and Pakistan

is yet to come up with an appropriate response, despite conducting a series
of exercises over the last few years. This amply brings out the importance of
a doctrinal approach to war-fighting. It is perhaps credible to assume that
Pakistan’s approach to the use of tactical nuclear weapons in conventional
conflict reflects in large measure its inability to counter the Indian doctrine.
However, this has not dissuaded Pakistan from continuing to support cross-
border terrorism from within its territory against India, albeit at a lower
scale, at what some in the Pakistani establishment believe to be within
India’s ‘threshold limits’. We, hence, need to enmesh an additional element
in the existing “Proactive Doctrine” to make it expensive if not impossible
for Pakistan to use terrorism for political and ideological ends.

6 CLAWS Journal l Winter 2013

 Combatting Cross-Border Terrorism

We need to enmesh
an additional
element in the
existing “Proactive
Doctrine” to make
it expensive if not
impossible for
Pakistan to use
terrorism for
political and
ideological ends.

As stated succinctly by the late Air Cmde Jasjit

Singh, “We need to ask ourselves whether we
have evolved a credible doctrine to successfully
counter Pakistan’s strategic doctrine of sub-
conventional war (through terrorism) under the
nuclear umbrella acquired by 1987.”
As of now, we have partial capability only.
Enough to deter attacks of the type on India’s
Parliament and the Mumbai attacks in
September 2008 but not enough to deter
continued support by Pakistan to militant
groups based in its territory. India’s strategy
to defeat Pakistan’s proxy war remains mired in defensive actions against
terrorists after they cross over into India. The construction of a fence against
Pakistan was no doubt a commendable achievement that has helped impose
a heavy cost on terrorists infiltrating into India. But the flow has by no
means stopped, primarily because the Pakistan Army, which actively assists
the jihadis, is not penalised for the support it provides. We need a clearly
enunciated doctrine, which can inflict the requisite degree of pain to make
the Pakistan military desist from providing such support.
American and Soviet Experience
A doctrine is simply a set of principles or practices applied to a particular
situation, region, or government. Clearly enunciated and backed by capacity
to execute, doctrines form an effective foreign policy tool. In the US,
American Presidents tend to set the foreign policy doctrine. The Monroe
Doctrine enunciated in 1823, was the first major Presidential foreign policy
doctrine wherein President Monroe made it clear that America would not
allow European colonies to further colonise in the Americas or interfere with
independent states. Four score years later, in 1904, President Roosevelt
issued a corollary to the Monroe Doctrine

CLAWS Journal l Winter 2013 7

Dhruv C Katoch

Infiltration of
that significantly altered America’s foreign
armed terrorists
into India from policy by stating that the US would not across the western allow
for European colonisation of Latin
borders directly America and would act to help stabilise
impinges on economic problems for struggling Latin
India’s national
American nations. “Big stick diplomacy”
security concerns
also came into play, the doctrine stating…
and will be
“If a nation shows that it knows how to
resisted by all
means available act with reasonable efficiency and decency to the country
include the use of
to in social and political matters, it need fear no
interference from the United States.
armed Chronic wrongdoing in the Western
Hemisphere may force the United States
to the exercise of an international police power.”12
Post World War II, the Truman Doctrine enunciated on March 12, 1947,
led to the American policy of containment to try to stop the fall of countries
to Communism and to halt the expansion of Soviet influence. The Carter
Doctrine, enunciated on January 23, 1980, aimed at countering the Soviet
Union’s attempts to consolidate a strategic position that would pose a grave
threat to the free movement of Middle East oil. The doctrine stated
that…“America would see an attempt by any outside force to gain control of
the Persian Gulf region ... as an assault on the vital interests of the United
States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means
necessary, including military force.” The Reagan Doctrine moved from
simple containment to more direct assistance to those fighting against
Communist governments and is widely believed to have helped in bringing
about the fall of the Soviet Union. In more recent times, the Bush Doctrine
was enunciated in response to the tragic events of terrorism that occurred on
September 11, 2001.13

American Presidents, thus, set out foreign policy agendas through

doctrines. These change as the circumstances, which necessitated them,

8 CLAWS Journal l Winter 2013

 Combatting Cross-Border Terrorism

India’s current
end, or change. The Soviet Union too,
strategy is based on
resorted to enunciating foreign policy
a defensive mindset
through the doctrinal prism. In 1968, the where infiltrators
Brezhnev Doctrine called for the use of are intercepted
Warsaw Pact forces to intervene in any after they come into
Eastern Bloc nation, which was seen to our territory and
compromise Communist rule and Soviet then are dealt with
domination, either by trying to leave the through force. The
Soviet sphere of influence or even moderate erection of the
its policies. The Soviet crushing of the border fence
Prague Spring movement in Czechoslovakia
remains a part
was an application of the Brezhnev
of this defensive
Doctrine.14
policy.

A Doctrine for India

The threat to India from cross-border terrorism is real. Regardless of the
political dispensation in Pakistan, this threat is unlikely to recede. If
anything, given the extent to which Pakistani society has radicalised, the
support being extended to terrorist groups inimical to India will only
increase. There is, thus, a need for clear enunciation of foreign policy in
dealing with cross-border terrorism. Like the Presidential doctrines of the
US and Soviet era, India needs to express its concern as also its resolve to
fight cross-border terrorism in doctrinal terms. Pakistani troops deployed
along the LoC continue to host terrorists and assist them in every way
possible. Recent incidents such as the killing of Indian soldiers along the
LoC and the dastardly attack on an Army unit in Samba will not cease unless
the cost to the Pakistani military is raised to the extent that it is forced to
desist from exercising such support. This then must be set out in clear
doctrinal terms.
The foreign policy doctrine with respect to cross-border terrorism must
be enunciated either by the Prime Minister as the executive head of

CLAWS Journal l Winter 2013 9

Dhruv C Katoch

the government or by the President of India as the Supreme Commander of

the Armed Forces of India. In terms of doctrine, it could be spelt out as
under:

Internal security of India is a vital national concern. Infiltration of armed

terrorists into India from across the western borders directly impinges on
India’s national security concerns and will be resisted by all means
available to the country to include the use of armed force. Support given by
military units deployed opposite Indian territory in any form whatsoever to
such terrorist groups will be considered a hostile act impinging on India’s
vital interests and will be responded to appropriately, to include the use of
military force.

Once Indian foreign policy imperatives with respect to cross-border

terrorism are enunciated in clear doctrinal terms, the responsibility devolves
on the Ministry of Defence and the Indian military to create both the
capacity and the capability to execute the doctrine. As stated earlier, India’s
current strategy is based on a defensive mindset where infiltrators are
intercepted after they come into our territory and then are dealt with through
force. The erection of the border fence remains a part of this defensive
policy. While the terrorists crossing over into India are being addressed by
the Indian Army, there is no corresponding cost to the Pakistan Army which
is providing logistic and other support including suppressive fire on Indian
positions to assist terrorists in the crossing. The cost to India is high while
the cost to Pakistan remains minimal. This needs to be reversed by imposing
a heavy cost on the adjacent Pakistani military posts that are perceived to be
supporting the terrorists. A national doctrine enunciated either by the Prime
Minister or the President of India would thereafter need to be supplemented
by a military doctrine to implement national policy directives in pursuance
of India’s vital national interests.

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 Combatting Cross-Border Terrorism

The essence of the

doctrine must aim at
imposing such
exceptionally high and
unbearable cost to the
point of completely
annihilating those
hostile military posts
that are perceived or
believed to have
provided support to
terrorists infiltrating
across the Line of
Control.

The Military Doctrine

A heavy cost must be imposed on the
Pakistan military if cross-border terrorism
is to cease. The essence of the doctrine
must aim at imposing such exceptionally
high and unbearable cost to the point of
completely annihilating those hostile
military posts that are perceived or
believed to have provided support to
terrorists infiltrating across the Line of
Control. This punishment must be
delivered in near real time to have the
requisite degree of impact. It would,
hence, be essential to have the capacity
and capability to operate against
specified targets across the Line of Control, in short duration punitive
strikes. The ability to carry out such strikes consistently over time and space
can give to India the punitive edge to deter Pakistan from continuing with its
existing policy of ‘bleeding India with a thousand cuts’.
There is an obvious risk of escalation in this approach, but the onus for
that must lie on the adversary, the doctrine advocating additional degrees of
punishment for each added act of provocation. In this expression of will to
defend ourselves through military capability, talks for the political resolution
of conflict could proceed alongside. However, each attempt by the adversary
to escalate the conflict must be met by a more severe response to maintain
the credibility of the doctrine. This would require the calibrated use of force
on multiple targets, both on the front line and in depth positions, in punitive
strikes to achieve policy objectives without the need or the necessity to hold
on to territory.
The framing of such a doctrine is outside the purview of this paper, but
the Indian armed forces and more specifically the Indian Army, must

CLAWS Journal l Winter 2013 11

Dhruv C Katoch

The essence of
The Proactive
be provided with the requisite wherewithal
the strategy is Doctrine of
in terms of military thecapability
IndiantoArmyexact
imposing costs
on the handlers
unacceptably highachieved costs on the adversary
and supporters and force it to desist deterrence at asuch
from providing
of terrorists, particular level
support. A review of existing organisational
especially those and has
structures would need to be undertaken,
deployed along contributed to
to fulfil both the Army’s requirement
maintaining for
peace.
the LoC, till such
time as they realise conventional conflict as well as provide However,
it a new
that providing teeth to carry out swift doctrine is actions
offensive
such support is against any act of terrorism emanating from
requirednonow longer
to in
their counter
interest to docross-
so.
foreign soil. The essence of the strategy border terrorism. is imposing
costs on the handlers and
supporters of terrorists, especially those
deployed along the LoC, till such time as they realise that providing such
support is no longer in their interest to do so.
What then are the capabilities required by the Indian Army? We are
essentially looking at enhancing capability in battlefield transparency,
firepower and manoeuvrability. These capabilities would need to be boosted
manifold to ensure real time surveillance over the border and delivery of
firepower at the target in the quantity desired. While the hostile military post
supporting the terrorists would need to be completely destroyed to convey the
message of deterrence, the Army would need to be prepared for hostile
retaliatory action. This, in turn, would need to be countered by swift attacks
on multiple targets, till escalation control is achieved.

In terms of organisation, the Army would need to be equipped with

drones, attack and utility helicopters, precision guided munitions, missiles
and greater quantum of field artillery. National capabilities with respect to
border surveillance would need to be enmeshed into the structure to ensure
real time battlefield surveillance. The 22 Apache attack helicopters along with
the 145 M-777 ultra-light howitzers being purchased by India
Combatting Cross-Border Terrorism

12 CLAWS Journal l Winter 2013

from the US could be usefully
employed along the LoC to achieve
this capability. These guns will give a
much-needed fillip to the Indian
Army’s firepower capability, by
making up the voids as also giving
the Army a qualitative edge. The
manoeuvre element in terms of attack
and utility helicopters will also
greatly enhance capability, once these
platforms are integrated into the
Indian Army’s organisational
structure at the corps level, along with
armed and unarmed Unmanned Aerial
Vehicles (UAVs). Speed is an
essential component of modern
warfare
and quick decision-making and force cohesiveness is a vital
component of that process. Legacy attitudes, which have inhibited
the integration of attack and utility helicopters into the Indian Army,
must be shed,else we lose a decisive and potent edge in fighting
across the spectrum of conflict.
The psychological value of targeting only those hostile posts
that support cross-border terrorism cannot be overemphasised.Once
the policy gets implemented, there would be a natural reluctance on
the part of hostile elements to provide support to terrorists as it
could lead to their own annihilation. Even if support were provided,
it would be with increasing reluctance. Implementation of the
doctrine would hence require very high capability in intelligence
gathering and in surveillance capability to target only those that
provide such support.
Conclusion
The importance of doctrine cannot be overstated. The Proactive
Doctrine of the Indian Army achieved deterrence at a particular
level and has contributed to maintaining peace. However, a new
doctrine is required now to counter cross-border terrorism. In the
present vitiated state of relations between India
CLAWS Journal l Winter 2013 13
Dhruv C Katoch

and Pakistan, where the latter is bent on promoting cross-border terrorism in

India as part of state ideology, a doctrinal statement of intent at the highest
political level would need to be stated to defeat Pakistan’s nefarious designs.
It would then be left to the military to formulate its own doctrine to give
teeth and intent to the national doctrine. It is well to remember that at times,
the surest path to peace comes from capability to extract a heavy price from
those intent on waging war.

Notes
1. Extracted from an article written by the author for the CLAWS web titled “Looking Beyond
the Proactive Doctrine” available at http://www.claws.in/Looking-beyond-the-Proactive-
Doctrine-Dhruv-Katoch.html
2. Speech on the on Kashmir issue, delivered by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto at the UN Security Council
on September 22, 1965, full text available at http://www.bhutto.org/1957-1965_speech21.php

3. Anthony Hyman, Muhammed Ghayur and Naresh Kaushik, Pakistan: Zia and After (New
Delhi: Abhinav Publications, 1989).
4. SK Sinha, “The Thousand Cuts,” The Asian Age, October 13, 2013, available at http://
www.asianage.com/columnists/thousand-cuts-925
5. Christophe Jaffrelot, Pakistan: Nationalism Without a Nation (New Delhi: Manohar Publishers
and Distributors, 2002), pp. 141-42.
6. Ashley J Tellis, The Menace That Is Lashkar-e-Taiba, Policy Outlook, Carnegie Endowment
for International Peace, March 2012.
7. Tufail Ahmad, “The Next Decade of Jihadism in Pakistan”, available at http://www.
currenttrends.org/research/detail/the-next-decade-of-jihadism-in-pakistan
8. Frederick W Kagan, The Two-Front War, available at http://pakistanpal.wordpress.com/
tag/markaz-dawat-ul-irshad/
9. NaeemTahir, “Punjab Government Funding Jamaat-ud-Dawa,” Daily Times, available at
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010%5C06%5C26%5Cstory_26-6-2010_
pg3_3
10. Tellis, n. 6.
11. See article available at http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-10-11/
news/30266840_1_pakistan-targets-thousand-cuts
12. See article available at http://americanhistory.about.com/od/warsanddiplomacy/tp/
foreign_policy_doctrines.htm
13. Ibid.
14. See article available at http://europeanhistory.about.com/od/glossary/g/ glbrezhnevdoct.htm

14 CLAWS Journal l Winter 2013