New Delhi, NOV 17: Indian army chief General Upendra Dwivedi on Monday issued a pointed warning to Pakistan, comparing the brief May conflict to a “trailer” rather than a full-length film.
The Indian army chief’s remarks come a week after an explosion near the Red Fort in New Delhi on November 10, leaving 12 people dead in the first such explosion in the Indian capital since 2011.
Delivering a speech at a defence conference in New Delhi, Gen Dwivedi said, “I’d like to say that the movie hasn’t even started — only a trailer was shown, and, after the trailer, it was over within 88 hours.“
“So, we’re fully prepared for the future, and if Pakistan gives us such an opportunity, we’d like to provide them with a thorough education on how a responsible nation should behave with its neighbours.“
The conflict between the two countries in May was sparked by an attack on tourists in India-occupied Kashmir, which New Delhi, without evidence, linked to Pakistan. Islamabad strongly denied responsibility while calling for a neutral investigation.
New Delhi then launched deadly air strikes in Punjab and Azad Kashmir on May 7. After tit-for-tat strikes on each other’s airbases during the four-day escalation, it took American intervention on May 10 for both sides to finally reach a ceasefire.
Delhi blast suspect presented in court
Indian anti-terrorism investigators presented a suspect linked to the bombing in court, one of two men accused of involvement in the suicide attack. Officials have not disclosed any details on the motives or organisational backing of the alleged attackers, both of whom they claim came from India-occupied Kashmir.
India’s National Investiagtion Agency (NIA) alleged that Amir Rashid Ali “conspired with the alleged suicide bomber, Umarun Nabi, to unleash the terror attack” last Monday.
It remains unclear whether Nabi is included in the tally.
Security personnel escort the suspect from a police vehicle at the Patiala House Court, a day after his arrest, in New Delhi, India on November 17. — AFP
An AFP photographer saw Ali being taken under heavy guard from a police truck to a New Delhi court to face charges. Indian media reported that the court had ordered that he be held in custody for 10 days by the NIA.
Nabi was a medical professor at a university in Haryana state, just outside the capital, while Ali had allegedly travelled to Delhi to “facilitate the purchase of the car which was eventually used as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (IED)”, according to the NIA.
India has provided no further information on the alleged motives or network behind the two suspects.
Another suspect apprehended: NIA
Later on Monday, the NIA said in a statement that it “arrested another key associate of the terrorist involved in the blast” in Delhi.
According to the statement, the suspect was arrested from Srinagar in India-occupied Kashmir by an NIA team, with the agency stating that he “allegedly provided technical support for carrying out terror attacks by modifying drones and attempting to make rockets ahead of the deadly car bomb blast which killed 10 persons and left 32 persons injured”.
“The accused, a resident of Qazigund in Anantnag district of [India-occupied Kashmir], was an active co-conspirator behind the attack and had worked closely with the terrorist, Umarun Nabi, to plan the terror carnage,” the statement read.
“NIA continues to explore various angles to unravel the conspiracy behind the bombing,” it added. “Several teams of the anti-terror agency are pursuing multiple leads and are conducting searches across states to identify every person involved in the terror attack.”
The Indian government has since branded the Delhi car blast a terrorist attack, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowing not to spare anyone involved in the “conspiracy” the day after the blast. Yesterday, the NIA said the blast was a “suicide bombing”.
