ARTICLE
Impact of Non-State Actors on
Indo-Pak Relations
P
akistan and India have passed seven-decade in severe enmity and have fought four wars during this
time. The failure of both countries to solve their mutual
conflicts, especially Kashmir issue, resulted in the provocation of non-state actors who were created during the Afghan
jihad. The participation of some of these groups in Indianheld Kashmir increased the tensions between both countries. These actors carried on their activities without any serious attention of international communities till 9/11.After the
9/11 attacks, a coordinated international action was started
against them. In December 2001, an attack on Indian Parliament took place; Lashkar-e-Taiba (Let) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) were stated as responsible for that. India
claimed that the attack was carried out under the guidance
of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency. Indian Home Minister Advani said that, Pakistani state was
involved in those attacks along with the terrorist group.
Pakistan condemned these attacks and put its border forces on high alert as Indian officials’ statements and military
mobilization were showing that India was going to attack
Pakistan. It is important to note that this attack by non-state
actors brought two nuclear states on the verge of a war.Pakistan took serious steps and banned several organizations
such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (Let), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM)
Sipa-e-Muhammad, Sipa-e-Saba, Harakat-ul-Majideen and
several other sectarian organization. The banned organizations changed their names and kept on with their activities
for several years. They developed their social structure and
participated in public services in the remote area, that were
underdeveloped. This helped them to gain public popularity and strengthen their roots in rural and underdeveloped
areas. After gaining popularity, some of them organized
themselves politically and are participating in elections as
well.The Mumbai attack in 2008 once again stirred up the
political environment of the sub-continent. India blamed
Pakistani militant group Jamat-ud-Dawa a decedent group
of LeT responsible for sending ten militants via sea route.
Here, once again India exploited the situation and blamed
Pakistani Intelligence agency for this act. However, it could
not provide any concrete evidence to support its claim.This
attack changed the tone of Indian politicians, diplomats and
media. Some Pakistani media groups played a complementary role which intensified the situation further. Later, some
reports showed that the facts were different.After Mumbai
attacks, India was ready to attack Pakistan. However, the
International leaders played their diplomatic role and kept
India away from taking actions against P