Pahalgam was a policy failure, a propaganda failure, and a political failure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fgYBLXMbYs Ajai Sahni Frontline Magazine
In this episode of Latitude, Frontline's weekly show on India's foreign policy and global affairs, senior journalist and host Nirupama Subramanian speaks to the noted counter terrorism specialist Ajai Sahni in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack. Sahni, who heads the Institute of Conflict Management that runs the website South Asia Terrorism Portal, talks about why the massacre on April 22 wherein 26 people were killed in Baisaran valley was not an intelligence failure but the fallout of the Narendra Modi-led Central government's political objective to prove "normalcy" in the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir following the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A.
Context:
The Baisaran valley, located in South Kashmir’s famed tourist resort of Pahalgam in Anantnag district, is a popular tourist spot, its rolling meadows reminiscent of many movie scenes. On April 22, 2025, this ordinary, cheerful place was turned into a slaughterhouse in a trice, turning the lives of several families upside down. Survivors said the firing continued for eight to 10 minutes. More than two dozen persons were killed, including a foreigner and a Kashmiri native, by what appeared to be trained gunmen.
According to defence experts, the militants probably chose the non-motorable and tough terrain in the forested area of Pahalgam since it “provides cover and more opportunities and safety than the hinterland”. As the news of the tragedy filtered down to the other parts of the Valley, the streets and highways slowly emptied of people, who were driven indoors by fear and sorrow, turning all of Kashmir into a ghost town.
Highlights:
Status of the Indus Waters Treaty after India suspended the 1960 agreement with Pakistan
How Pakistan will react to the curtailment of waters under the IWT
Is an India-Pakistan border crisis around the corner or is this mere aggressive posturing
How India can retaliate in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack
What India's ideal response should be to the Pahalgam terror attack
Whether the Pahalgam massacre represents an intelligence failure or not
YT transcript: "J:\fortransfer\ajaiSAhni-indo-pak.html"