Rajnath: At the Army Commanders’ Conference last month, the Hamas terror strike in Gaza was discussed.
In the wake of the October 7 Hamas pogrom in Israel, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has advised Indian Army commanders to “expect the unexpected,” even as national security planners have examined the terror strike and are examining the IDF’s ground offensive in Gaza.
Under the “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” initiative, the Indian Army is known to have made emergency purchases totaling several thousand crores over two phases to acquire ground sensors, loiter ammunition, anti-drone systems, and logistics UAVs to secure the country’s borders against asymmetric strikes and learn how to neutralize them. Although terror groups with Pakistani origins operate in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, attempts are being made to neutralize the jihadists in Jammu and Kashmir and prevent infiltration from across the Line of Control. – Rajnath
At last month’s Army Commanders’ Conference, a group comprising representatives from the Ministry of External Affairs, the armed forces, and intelligence agencies discussed the simultaneous rocket attacks into Israeli cities and the terror strike carried out by Hamas in Gaza, as well as the potential impact of this conflict on the future of the Middle East.
Accordingly, the Indian Navy audited every vessel on the western coast to make sure it was radio-tagged and severely penalized any that didn’t have the right paperwork. Amidst the terrorist attack in Mumbai on 26/11, the Navy is making every effort to monitor India’s 7,500 km coastline and prevent a recurrence of the 2008 attack.
It’s important to keep in mind that Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) jihadists with headquarters in Pakistan had attacked the Chabad House at Nariman Point and, after torturing the Jews, ruthlessly murdered them. Following the shooting deaths of innocent bystanders at Leopold Café by Pakistani jihadists, the Nariman House was attacked. Not a single LeT jihadist or ISI rogue has been punished by Pakistan fifteen years after the attack.
According to Indian assessments, the Israeli war against Hamas won’t stop until the Sunni Salafi group’s cadres are destroyed in Gaza and its leadership is neutralized there. The greater concern is that if Shia Hezbollah and Tel Aviv open the northern front, Iran will be dragged into the conflict. Then, as Islamist countries like Syria, Qatar, and Turkey are agitating the Arab street sentiment in the name of Ummah, the entire Middle East will be signed. Not only is Qatar the home of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is outlawed in Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, but Hamas leaders such as Ismail Haniyeh are sheltering in Doha, much like Taliban leaders did in the past.
Ratnavali