Security in South Asia: Conventional and Unconventional Factors of Destabilization Imprint

Studies & Comments 9 Klaus Lange (ed.)

Chairman Dr. h.c. mult. Hans Zehetmair, State Minister (ret.) Managing Director Dr. Peter Witterauf Head of Academy for Prof. Dr. Reinhard Meier-Walser Politics and Current Affairs Head of Press, PR & Internet Hubertus Klingsbögl

Editorial Office Prof. Dr. Reinhard Meier-Walser (Editor-in-Chief, V.i.S.d.P.) Barbara Fürbeth M.A. (Editorial Manager) Claudia Magg-Frank, Dipl. sc. pol. (Editorial Staff) Anna Pomian M.A. (Editorial Staff) Marion Steib (Assistant Editor)

Print Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung e.V., Munich

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Klaus Lange Introduction ...... 5

Hans-Georg Wieck Indien – Perspektiven und Risiken seiner Stabilität und Sicherheit ...... 7

Michael Chandler Terrorism: difficulties faced by national governments and the international community in countering the threat ...... 13

Vinod Anand Naxalite ideology, strategy and tactics ...... 19

Animesh Roul Islamic terrorism in India: organizations, tentacles and networks ...... 33

Hein G. Kiessling Der pakistanisch-afghanische Problemverbund ...... 43

Liping Xia Stability in South Asia: a view from China ...... 51

List of authors ...... 63 Introduction

Klaus Lange

The publication at hand contains selected there is little justification for compartmen- papers presented at an international confer- talized research which focuses on individual ence organized by the Academy of Politics states in isolation from each other. and Current Affairs of the Hanns Seidel Foundation which took place in Wildbad Today South Asia is one of the key regions Kreuth on 16-18 June 2009. where the question of global development as a whole will be decided. This issue, with all The subject of the conference was "Security its accompanying risks and opportunities, in South Asia: Conventional and Unconven- makes it imperative as well as appropriate to tional Factors of Destabilization". direct a searchlight on the regional security of South Asia. The significance of South Asia in terms of security aspects is usually underrated in The contents of this publication do not claim Europe, particularly when that geographical to provide comprehensive coverage of all the area is viewed in a global context. It is also risks to stability in South Asia. The topics often overlooked that South Asia holds a here discussed do, however, constitute the- dominant position among the growth regions matic poles around which any future system- of the world. Moreover, South Asia com- atic analysis would have to be structured: it mands an incomparable historical and cul- can hardly be disputed that India and its tural "sounding board" with the potential to problems of stability would have to be con- resonate far beyond regional boundaries. sidered an essential and central subject, as would the entire interconnected complex of With the Indian subcontinent as its centre, the Pakistan-Afghan problem. South Asia is at the same time saddled with manifold risks to its stability, risks which At the same time it would also make sense cover a broad spectrum ranging from ex- to take another look at the phenomenon of treme social polarization and religious an- global terrorism, this time from the vantage tagonisms, through to numerous forms of point of recent developments since 9/11. terrorism. When the situation is subjected to Finally, any attempt to calculate or predict closer scrutiny, the impression arises that the the future prospects for stability in South governments of the region are often so Asia must in the long term take into account overtaxed when it comes to containing the the Chinese factor. current risks to their security and stability that any prognosis of the future development This publication will have more than ful- of South Asia must be accompanied by nu- filled its purpose if it results in drawing more merous question marks. Moreover, it has to attention to a region, the importance of be taken into account that South Asia con- which is in inverse proportion to the notice stitutes a system of interdependence and so it currently receives. Indien – Perspektiven und Risiken seiner Stabilität und Sicherheit

Hans-Georg Wieck

1. Die Fragestellung tung stabiler Mehrheitsverhältnisse für die fünfjährige Regierungsperiode aufkommen Indien fällt bei der Bewältigung oder Ein- lassen – nicht ohne gute Gründe. dämmung der internationalen Bedrohungen ein erhebliches Maß an Verantwortung und Die Kongress-Partei verfügt nun über Gewicht zu, auch wenn das Land in vielen 206 Sitze und stellt in der von ihr ange- Fällen nicht in erster Linie oder ausschließ- führten United Progressive Alliance mit lich betroffen ist. 262 Sitzen die größte Partei. Andere Parla- mentsgruppen haben sich der Regierungs- Die Verantwortung für die Bewältigung der koalition angeschlossen. Diese verfügt nun inneren Bedrohungen liegt bei den Akteu- insgesamt über 330 Sitze im indischen Par- ren der demokratischen Kräfte und der lament (Lok Sabha). staatlichen Institutionen im Lande selbst. Die Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP, national- Die innere und äußere Sicherheit und die hinduistische Partei) eroberte bei den Wah- politische Stabilität Indiens angesichts un- len 116 Sitze. Insgesamt verfügt die von übersehbarer, zum Teil existenzieller Risi- der BJP angeführte National Democratic ken hängen meines Erachtens daher vor Alliance über 159 Sitze. allem von folgenden Punkten ab: Überraschend schlecht hat das linke Wahl- – von der Glaubwürdigkeit und Zukunfts- bündnis Third Front mit insgesamt nur fähigkeit der indischen Demokratie, 79 Sitzen im indischen Parlament abge- schnitten. – von der Handlungsfähigkeit ihrer staatlichen Institutionen und 2. Der überzeugende Sieg der Kongress- – von der Antwort auf die Frage, in wel- Koalition (United Progressive Alliance), zu cher geostrategischen Konstellation das dem gewiss auch die massiven Hilfspro- Land seine äußere Sicherheit sucht und gramme für die ländliche Bevölkerung bei- findet. getragen haben, hat denjenigen politischen Kräften im Lande Auftrieb gegeben, die von der Notwendigkeit überzeugt sind, den Staat nicht nur nach den Regeln der Verfas- 2. Die Antworten sung als säkularen Staat zu führen und zu gestalten, sondern auch pro-aktiv den poli- Die Wahlen vom Mai 2009 – Renaissance tisch organisierten Kräften zu begegnen, die von Demokratie und Handlungsfähigkeit? staatliche Institutionen zu Brutstätten religiö- ser Eiferer und Intoleranz, vor allem hindu- 1. Die Ergebnisse der indischen Parla- istischer Natur, werden lassen wollen oder mentswahlen vom 16. Mai 2009 sind im die den Staat im Wege eines militanten Lande und weltweit mit Erleichterung auf- islamischen Fundamentalismus untergraben genommen worden und haben die Erwar- wollen. 8 Hans-Georg Wieck

Diese Gefahren bestehen und können nur Rahul Gandhi hat die Jugend des Landes im Wege politischen Dialogs, politischer aufgerufen, sich für dieses Land zu engagie- Vision und in Konfliktfällen durch die Ur- ren (Kennedy-Komplex). Dieser Appell ist teile unabhängiger Gerichte gebannt wer- glaubwürdig. Er wurde in Uttar Pradesch den. Die beiden großen Parteien haben auf sehr kräftig von seiner Charisma ausstrah- diesem Felde in der Vergangenheit gesün- lenden Schwester Priyanka Gandhi Vadra digt. unterstützt. Die Verjüngung der Führungs- kräfte ist angesichts der gegenwärtig die 3. "Good Governance" hat jetzt wieder eine Macht verwaltenden Altenriege unerläss- Chance. "Good Governance" ist der Schlüs- lich, die sowohl in der Regierung als auch sel zur Bewältigung der Glaubwürdigkeits- in der Opposition immer noch dominant ist. krise der indischen Demokratie Für diese Verjüngung steht Rahul Gandhi – und mit ihm auch die Sehnsucht nach Visi- onen für die Zukunft, wie es bei seinem Der Wahlsieg der Kongress-Partei wird Vater Rajiv der Fall gewesen war. von vielen Beobachtern nicht nur als eine Bestätigung des Ministerpräsidenten Man- Rahul Gandhi selbst weiß um den Vorwurf mohan Singh, der ein ausgewiesener und der Korruption, der auf der Kongress-Partei erfahrener Fachmann für alle finanz- und und seinem Vater lastet, und um den Mangel wirtschaftspolitischen Fragen ist, angese- an partei-interner Demokratie. Analog zu hen. Sonja Gandhi, die Parteivorsitzende sozialdemokratischen Vorstellungen setzt und der "spiritus rector" der Regierungs- er sich für ein sozial abgesichertes Wirt- politik, und Manmohan Singh müssen nun schaftswachstum ("inclusive economic nicht mehr ihre Energie im Ringen mit growth") ein. den Kommunisten verschleißen, die ja die Manmohan Singh-Regierung von außen 4. Kongress-Partei und BJP haben im letz- stützten und somit tolerierten, aber Schlüs- ten Jahrzehnt die Kraft und Anziehungskraft selentscheidungen ver- und behinderten. verloren, aufstrebende, auf Mitgestaltung drängende politische Gruppierungen, vor Der Erfolg der Kongress-Partei ist vor allem allem aus den sozial schwachen Teilen der auf den Umstand zurückzuführen, dass, ei- Bevölkerung, an sich zu binden. Diese auf- ner Abstimmung in der Familie folgend, mit strebenden Kräfte der Dalits und Adivasis Rahul Gandhi der landesweit gehegte My- erobern seit Jahren mit eigenen Parteigrün- thos der positiven Rolle der Nehru-Gandhi- dungen politische Positionen in den Bun- Familie für das Wohl und Wehe Indiens desländern und sind als Koalitionspartner erneut Gestalt angenommen hat. Rahul ist der beiden großen Parteistrukturen schwie- der Hoffnungsträger der Nation, vor allem rige Partner. der Jugend. Kongress-Partei und BJP konnten in Jahre In Uttar Pradesch gelang es ihm, einen 2004 und 2009 nur 48,97% bzw. 48,67% eindrucksvollen Wahlsieg einzufahren. Er der Stimmen im ganzen Land auf sich ver- führte demokratische Wahlen in der Ju- einen – also jeweils nur fast die Hälfte, gendorganisation dieses Bundesstaates ein. aber eben nicht mehr. Das reicht nicht für Rahul Gandhi ist einer der zwölf General- landesweit auftretende nationale Parteien. sekretäre der Kongress-Partei und hat die Jugendarbeit übernommen. Die Verjüngung 5. Zu erinnern ist auch daran, dass der Füh- der Parteikader ist im Gange und lässt rer der BJP, L.K. Advani, der im Dezember Hoffnung aufkommen, nicht nur in der 1992 als führender BJP-Politiker die Ver- Partei, sondern auch im Lande. antwortung für den Sturm auf die Moschee Indien – Perspektiven und Risiken seiner Stabilität und Sicherheit 9

in Ayodhya trug, in den Augen großer Teile in einen kritisch-reflexiven Modernitätsdis- der Öffentlichkeit für das Konzept eines kurs einzubinden. Dies hatte schon Mahat- entsäkularisierten Staates steht. Das ist eine ma Gandhi (1869-1948) mit seiner Pro- lebensgefährliche Perspektive für den multi- grammschrift 'Hind Swaraj' angestrebt, die ethischen und multi-religiösen Staat Indien. vor hundert Jahren (1909) erschien. Gan- Als Nachfolger im Vorsitz der BJP wird der dhis Klassiker des Antikolonialismus und Ministerpräsident von Gujerat, Narendra der gewaltfreien Aktion entstand keines- Modi, gehandelt, der Mann, dem die Ver- wegs auf einer Insel der Seligen, sondern in antwortung für die hinduistischen Rache- der komplizierten tagespolitischen Gemen- akte an der muslimischen Bevölkerung nach gelage und vor dem Hintergrund einer Ge- einem Muslim-Angriff gegen einen Eisen- schichte Südasiens, deren Blutspur nicht bahnzug mit hinduistischen Pilgern im Jah- weniger überwältigend ist als die von andere 2002 zur Last gelegt wird. ren Weltregionen."

Der säkulare Staat sieht sich demnach wei- Die Dimension dieser Aufgabe ist unvor- terhin einer großen Herausforderung durch stellbar groß. das von erheblichen Bevölkerungsteilen unterstützte Hindutwa Konzept für Indien 7. Angesichts des hohen Ansehens der ausgesetzt. Der Staat muss in allen als Verfassungsorgan verankerten Wahl- "kommunalen" Fragen Toleranz, Dialog kommission wird auch in diesem Jahr mit und Gewaltlosigkeit sowie die Unpartei- guten Gründen von einer im Ganzen fairen lichkeit der staatlichen Organe und der und freien Wahl in Indien gesprochen. Aber Gerichte durchsetzen – in den Dörfern, in der Vorwurf und die Vermutung von fi- denen Brahmanen und Grundbesitzer über nanzieller Korruption wird immer wieder Dalits und Adivasis herrschen, ebenso wie erhoben und in Einzelfällen nachgewiesen. bei der Quotenregelung, um die soziale Nach den Erhebungen von Transparency Integration der traditionell ausgegrenzten International nimmt Indien den Rang 85 in Bürger (250 Millionen Menschen) zu er- der Rangfolge der 185 Staaten und Gesell- reichen. schaften ein, die untersucht werden – also eine Position in der Mitte der Gesamtliste. 6. Das Wahlergebnis vom 16. Mai 2009 ist China steht etwas besser da – auf Position 72. eine Chance, gibt Hoffnung auf einen Neu- In den Analysen des Bertelsmann Transfor- anfang, um die gegenwärtig stattfindende mation Index 2008 nimmt Indien im Status- schrittweise Aushöhlung der staatsbürgerli- Index (Mittelwert bei Politischer Transfor- chen Dimension der Verfassungsordnung mation und Wirtschaftlicher Transformation) und der politischen Kultur des Landes zu die Position 24 (von 119 Ländern) und bremsen und zu korrigieren. beim Management Index (Bewertung der Managementleistung der politischen Ent- "Gewalt und Gewaltfreiheit in Südasien", scheidungsträger) die Position 32 ein. hat vor kurzem anlässlich seiner Berufung der junge Indologe Werner Wessler an der Das sind beachtliche Positionen für einen Universität Bonn zum Thema seiner An- Staat von der Größe und der Komplexität trittsvorlesung gemacht. In der Begründung Indiens. China kann in keinem dieser Indi- für die Wahl des Themas führt er aus: ces glänzen. "Frieden und Stabilität der einzelnen Staa- ten wie auch der Region Südasien als gan- Der "Freedom House Index 2008" ordnet zer entscheiden sich an der Frage, ob es Indien unter den freien Ländern ein. Das gelingt, die tief eingewurzelten multi- und hat der Freedom House Index nicht immer interkulturellen Erfahrungen der Menschen getan! 10 Hans-Georg Wieck

8. Auf das Engste mit dem Erfordernis der Streitkräfte im Kampf gegen Talibane Glaubwürdigkeit und Stabilität der Demo- und Al Qaida-Zellen zusammen. Indien kratie sowie der Handlungsfähigkeit der stellt das tatsächliche Engagement Pa- staatlichen Institutionen ist die Ernsthaftig- kistans in diesen existenziellen Fragen keit und Effizienz der staatlichen Politik zur in Frage. Indien hat sein finanzielles Überwindung der strukturellen Armut (25% und politisches Engagement in Afgha- der Bevölkerung) und des Analphabe- nistan verstärkt. Die Lage in Pakistan/ tentums (mehr als 40% der Bevölkerung) Afghanistan ist kritisch, nicht zuletzt verbunden. Dabei ist nicht nur die soziale wegen der Gefahr, dass pakistanische und menschenrechtliche Dimension von Nuklearwaffen in die Hände und unter Bedeutung, sondern auch die Lebensfähig- die Kontrolle der Talibane kommen keit der Megastädte in Indien selbst, die Ge- könnten. fahr laufen, von den ständig wachsenden Slums in eine existenzielle Krise gerissen Das gesamte Umfeld Indiens, also der ge- zu werden, da sie den Nährboden für Epi- samte benachbarte SAARC-Raum, ist von demien und Pandemien und vielleicht auch internen Unsicherheiten und Instabilitäten einmal für gewaltsame soziale Unruhen gekennzeichnet. Das muss Indien zu ver- darstellen. stärkten Anstrengungen veranlassen, im bilateralen Prozess zur inneren Stabilität dieser Länder beizutragen – eine der Quadratur des Kreises gleichende Aufgabe. Die geostrategische Einbettung Indiens In dieser von Unsicherheiten und Gefahren Die regionale Sicherheitslage Indiens ist bestimmten Lage bemüht sich Indien aus heute von der inneren Schwäche, ja Labili- guten Gründen um einen "Modus vivendi" tät seiner Nachbarn im SAARC-Rahmen mit China, dem größten Handelspartner geprägt. Der indische Politikwissenschaftler Indiens. Gleiches versuchte vor mehr als Amitabh Mattoo charakterisierte die Lage 50 Jahren in einer idealistischen Vision mit den Worten, dass Indien in der Nach- auch Jawaharlal Nehru. Er scheiterte damals, barschaft gescheiterter Staaten lebe – mit wie er nach der chinesischen Invasion im anderen Worten: Indien gleicht einer Insel Nordosten Indiens im Jahre 1962 bekennen in einem Meer von Gewalt: musste.

– Auf Sri Lanka wurde jetzt erst ein Bestehen heute bessere Aussichten auf Er- 25 Jahre währender Bürgerkrieg mit folg? Das lässt sich nicht mit Bestimmtheit fast 100.000 Opfern beendet. sagen. Aber der Versuch muss auf jeden – In Birma herrscht die älteste Militär- Fall unternommen werden. diktatur der Welt. Indien ist aber auch bereit und interessiert, – Nepal ist gekennzeichnet von Bürger- über die schon mit den USA auf dem Ge- krieg und Systemwechsel mit der Per- biet der friedlichen Nutzung der Nuklear- spektive weiterer Unruhen. technologie und der rüstungspolitischen Zu- – Pakistan, Bangladesch und Afghanistan sammenarbeit getroffenen Vereinbarungen sind von der Gefahr einer islamischen mit den USA hinaus eine internationale Revolution bzw. Talibanisierung be- Funktion bei der Sicherung des Seeverkehrs droht, die auch Teile der islamischen im Indischen Ozean und der angrenzenden Bevölkerung in Indien erfassen könnte. Seewege (Golf von Aden, Straße von Ma- Im afghanisch-pakistanischen Grenz- lakka) zu übernehmen und entsprechende gebiet arbeiten US- und Pakistan- Vereinbarungen mit den USA zu treffen. Indien – Perspektiven und Risiken seiner Stabilität und Sicherheit 11

Die Zusammenarbeit mit den USA soll Vorstellung, nämlich engste Zusammenar- auch der Sicherung indischer Interessen beit zwischen Indien, China und der Russi- bei US-Engagements in den benachbarten schen Föderation anzustreben – und zwar Staaten, vor allem im Raum Afghanistan/ implizit mit einer anti-amerikanischen Per- Pakistan, dienen. Den USA werden wohl spektive – dürfte heute in Indien kaum auf auf der Basis der Gegenseitigkeit gewisse Gegenliebe stoßen. Allerdings gibt es durch- Stationierungsrechte in indischen Häfen aus dahin gehende Vorstellungen einiger eingeräumt werden. Der Vertrag liegt be- indischer Politiker und Sachverständiger. reits seit zwei Jahren unterschriftsreif vor. Die Seeüberwachung wird eine gemeinsa- Indien nimmt jedoch wie andere Staaten in me Aufgabe werden. Die Seewege durch Asien auch als Beobachter an der Schang- den Indischen Ozen und die angrenzenden hai-Gruppe teil. Seegebiete, über die zwei Drittel der weltweit stattfindenden Öltransporte und ein Drittel des globalen Containerverkehrs gehen, werden derzeit vor allem durch Pi- 3. Schlussfolgerungen raterie gefährdet, könnten aber in genuin internationalen Spannungen auch anderen Sicherheit und Stabilität Indiens sind also Bedrohungen ausgesetzt werden. Auch sucht im Lande wie auf der internationalen Bühne Indien wie die USA eine generelle Über- erheblichen Gefahren und Risiken ausge- wachungskapazität aufzubauen – nicht zu- setzt: zum einen durch den hinduistischen letzt wegen der aufkommenden chinesischen und den islamischen Fundamentalismus im Marinepräsenz im Indischen Ozean. Lande selbst und zum anderen durch den Gleichzeitig will Indien Vereinbarungen mit inneren Zerfall der benachbarten Staaten den Anrainerstaaten des Indischen Ozeans mit der Folge möglicher grenzüberschrei- einbeziehen. tender gewaltsamer Konflikte mit internationalen Auswirkungen. Die Zusammenarbeit mit den USA ist in Indien nicht unumstritten. Angesichts der Im Inneren braucht Indien eine Renaissance instabilen politischen und sicherheitspoliti- des säkularen und demokratisch verfassten schen Lage in der Region muss Indien aber integrativen Staates und eine sozial veran- eine stabile, auch strategisch relevante Zu- kerte Wirtschaftsentwicklung. sammenarbeit mit dem benachbarten China und mit den USA – allerdings mit unterschiedlichen Schwerpunkten – suchen. Auf der internationalen Bühne braucht In- dien eine stabile Beziehung mit China und Vor diesem regionalen Hintergrund der Si- mit den USA – mit jeweils unterschiedli- cherheitsklage Indiens verbietet sich aller- chen Schwerpunkten, jedoch ohne gegen dings eine geostrategische, implizit gegen den einen oder den anderen Partner ge- China gerichtete strategische Zusammen- richtete Allianzen. arbeit mit den USA, also eine gegen China gerichtete Allianz mit den USA. Vor diesem Hintergrund muss Indien selbst auf bilateralem Wege zur Stabilität in den Eine andere, vor allem von Moskau und zum benachbarten SAARC-Staaten pro-aktiv Teil von Beijing geförderte geostrategische beitragen. Terrorism: difficulties faced by national governments and the international community in countering the threat

Michael Chandler

1. Introduction are threats elsewhere, there is no other area of the world where the success of counter- Tragically, some of the issues raised in this terrorism measures will mean more, and paper have been made on a number of pre- their failure have greater consequences, vious occasions. I have talked about these than in South Asia …"1 difficulties in presentations and in my book "Countering terrorism: can we meet the threat of global violence?" The points are reflected in the reports submitted to the UN 2. Pakistan and South Asian security Security Council by the Monitoring Group which I had the privilege to chair from 2001 The geopolitical location of Pakistan is piv- to 2004. otal to the broader security situation in the South Asia region. Currently it is experi- The word "tragically" is used quite inten- encing its own insurgency from the Pakistan tionally because time and again we see a Taliban. At the same time the Taliban are distinct lack of progress in both national and conducting an insurgency inside Afghanis- international efforts to counter the threat. tan, using the areas of Pakistan as a safe ha- Some of the difficulties will be touched upon ven and a springboard for these operations. and the paper will also explore other reasons The long-running sore of the disputed re- for this lack of progress: they are usually gion in Kashmir or Jammu and Kashmir perceptions – often ill-founded ones – due to also remains unresolved after many dec- an inability to know and understand that ades, providing grounds for tension between most fundamental aspect of dealing with Pakistan and India. Attacks inside India by terrorism, namely the threat. militants and extremists are a regular occur- rence. Despite India having a plethora of This paper deals primarily with countries in domestic terrorist or insurgent groups,2 South Asia: those with a direct interest in whenever there is a major terrorist attack, the region and others which have influence such as the attacks on the Bombay/Mumbai with the regional actors. The paper also hotels, railway station and Jewish Centre, concentrates on the importance of this area, Pakistan is immediately accused even be- with respect to the most overt international fore the dust has settled. As it happens, in terrorist threat, a fact highlighted in the la- this case there was a connection and the test report to the UN Security Council of the event was enough for tensions between the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitor- two countries to be raised yet again. How- ing Team: "…When the Team last reported, ever, in many other cases it is other dispa- in March 2008, the critical importance of rate groups, often non-Muslim ones that the border area between Afghanistan and prove in the end to be responsible for ter- Pakistan in terms of the threat from the rorist atrocities in India. Taliban, Al-Qaida and other associated groups … was already apparent. Since then The proximity of the Middle East and Iran it has become even more so. Although there are also key to the security situation. Many 14 Michael Chandler

of the "foreign fighters" associated with Recent events in Pakistan have brought this Al-Qaida who went to Iraq to wage jihad statement into even sharper focus. For a against the US and its coalition allies have long time Pakistan was obliged for very moved into the Pakistan border regions and good domestic reasons to walk a tightrope joined the Taliban fighting in Afghanistan – between responding to requests from the their so-called cause in Iraq having lost im- USA to deal much more robustly with the petus. Also, their presence in Iraq has be- Taliban and Al-Qaida (who are one and the come no longer acceptable to the majority same to US domestic audiences) and acqui- of Iraqis, even many of the Sunni alongside escing to a large Muslim population. Sig- of whom they were fighting. nificant numbers of Pakistani Muslims have a greater empathy towards the Taliban, on account of them being fellow Pashtuns and In addition, the seat of Islam and the Ara- Muslims, than towards the 'infidel' USA, bian peninsula are, by modern standards of which had seemingly abandoned them and travel and influence, but a stone's throw over 2.5 million Afghan refugees after the away. Saudi Arabia had played a significant Soviet Army had been ousted from Af- supporting role, through Pakistan, to the ghanistan in 1989. Now the tables have mujahideen in their ousting of the Soviet been turned, and quite dramatically at that. troops from Afghanistan, and along with Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates The reality of Islamist extremism is four- maintained close ties with the Taliban square on Pakistan's front door. There was movement in Afghanistan in its attempts to the protracted engagement between Pakis- "Islamize" the country between 1994 and tan's security forces and Islamist militants at 2001. On the sidelines is a resurgent Russia the Red Mosque; a variety of serious gov- and a rapidly developing China, presenting ernmental and security-related issues in the a new flavour to the former Great Game North West Frontier Province (NWFP); and that was played out in the late 19th century conflict in some of the Federally Adminis- by the major powers of the day. tered Tribal Areas (FATA) and in Waziris- tan which border Afghanistan and in which But just how pivotal is the situation in Pakis- the Taliban and Al-Qaida have unimpeded tan was emphasized by the Analytical Sup- freedom of movement and sanctuary based port and Sanctions Monitoring Team of on a life-long established culture of 'hospi- the UN Security Council in their Report of tality to the traveller'. But the worst of these 13 May 2009, in which the team went on to issues relates to events in the Swat Valley. state that: "While they have not developed This case is of crucial importance to a unified plans or objectives, the Taliban democratic Pakistan, in that the country has groups in Pakistan continue to test the limits found itself embroiled in a major insur- of their power. The outcome of their gency. Some may argue that it brought it on struggle with the authorities in Pakistan, itself by not being in a position to recognize which has now extended well beyond the and deal robustly with the threat. Federally Administered Tribal Areas, is crucial to the future of Al-Qaida, whose presence in the border area relies on their support. The Team has not been able to 3. Terrorism as a tactic verify reports of the Pakistan Taliban planning attacks outside the country, but if the The key point is that "terrorism" per se is a link with Al-Qaida becomes stronger, it is tactic utilized by militants and extremists possible that a new energy may infuse the and not just Islamist militants and extrem- global threat from terrorism." ists (although they are the primary threat in Terrorism: difficulties faced by national governments and the international community 15

this discussion) in attempting to achieve However, the most important point in this their goals. But a careful assessment of how, discussion is knowing with what you are why and where militant groups associated dealing. In Iraq, the US-lead coalition soon with Al-Qaida and/or the Taliban are car- realized that the attacks against them were rying out terrorist attacks has revealed that a coming primarily from Iraqis inside Iraq, in number of countries are actually experienc- the form of guerilla warfare, and that it was ing or facing insurgency and the terrorists an insurgency that had to be understood and then become insurgents, which is a more tackled as such. Terrorist groups were in- accurate description. volved, but then so were significant numbers of the indigenous folk. By definition, for example according to Princeton University's lexical database, an insurgency is "an organized rebellion aimed 4. Continuing mistrust between at overthrowing a constituted government India and Pakistan, and through the use of subversion and armed conflict".3 Afghanistan and Pakistan

This is somewhat at odds with the definition The mistrust between India and Pakistan is of terrorism, a problem that still exists for a deeply rooted in the problems of Jammu small number of countries despite realistic and Kashmir. Pakistan feels that it went a attempts by the United Nations to obtain a long way on this issue while General Pervez consensus in 2005 with the following defi- Musharraf was President and that India has nition: "any action … that is intended to failed to reciprocate. India for her part con- cause death or serious bodily harm to civil- siders that Pakistan still does not do enough ians or non-combatants, when the purpose to reduce the threat to India from Islamist of such an act, by its nature or context, is to militants based in Pakistan. intimidate a population or to compel a Gov- ernment or an international organization to In relation to its current military operation do or to abstain from doing any act". in the Swat Valley, Pakistan will say that it is now tackling the Taliban head-on. How- Although most UN member states accept ever, this has only been possible because this definition, a small number of Arab Pakistan is now a democracy and not a countries and Iran do not agree with it. The military dictatorship. The country has an dissenters have always wanted an amend- independent judiciary and proudly boasts a ment that recognizes the activities of Israel lively and dynamic free press and media: against the Palestinians as "acts of terror- there are now over 50 independent televi- ism" and naturally there are key players on sion stations in Pakistan. The Pakistan the world scene who in turn will not accept Armed Forces are now seen as under demo- this approach. Why? Because in the first in- cratic control. A 'cross-party' consensus has stance it is the Palestinians that resorted to been achieved in the parliament that non- acts of terrorism, not just directly against Is- state actors will not be tolerated within the rael, but to make their point they took their country's borders, especially when they "acts of terrorism" to many other countries, challenge the legitimate authority of the with aircraft hijackings, attacks on airports, elected government. against diplomats and even the Olympic Games in Munich 1972. Here again we see But it is not an easy task. The Pakistan terrorism being used as a tactic to try and Armed Forces have to a large extent been achieve a political end, in this case so far organized for conventional warfare and not without success. asymmetric warfare. The US also learnt the 16 Michael Chandler difference at great cost after it invaded Iraq 5. The importance of in 2003 and then found itself fighting on understanding the threat two fronts, Iraq and Afghanistan. The UK found the adjustment less of a problem, Having a clear understanding of the threat is perhaps because it had far more experience fundamental to being able to effectively over past decades of conducting low-inten- counter it. If the threat is not understood sity operations around the world. In fact in then it is not possible to develop the appro- the early days of the so-called invasion of priate strategy and tactics to counter the Iraq in March 2003, British units in and threat and decide on the correct resources to around Basra in south-east Iraq applied the achieve the goals defined by the strategy well-established practices of "hearts and that is adopted. Understanding the threat minds" in an effort to convince the local demands political will and this is an impor- population that they, the UK Forces, really tant ingredient that is missing time and were there to rid the country of tyrannical again from the counter-terrorism efforts of rule. Pakistani Army officers have revealed the international community. in conversations that they know the size of the task. It does not require a military gen- Despite the outward sympathy that most ius to see what a daunting challenge faces countries and states expressed to the USA the Pakistan Armed Forces. Simply the ter- in response to the 9/11 attacks in the USA, rain of the Swat Valley presents enormous it soon became apparent that many coun- difficulties for counter-insurgency operations. tries had reservations concerning the im- Within the Pakistan army there are officers plementation of measures called for unani- who know the importance of reaching out to mously by the UN Security Council under the population, who know the importance of Chapter VII resolutions. Specifically, "hearts and minds". Resolution 1373 of 28 September 2001 ("Threats to international peace and security The reason why the Pakistan Armed Forces caused by terrorist acts") and all relevant have been organized on conventional lines resolutions, starting with Resolution 1267 in is that the main threat to the country was 1999 concerning sanctions against Al-Qaida always perceived to be India. This particu- and the Taliban, their supporters and sym- lar threat was also the explanation for Paki- pathizers have presented many governments stan's sympathy and support for the Taliban. with dilemmas. This process has improved In addition to being Pashtun, like the ma- with time, but it continues to be hampered jority of the tribes that occupy Pakistan's by interpretation of the Listing versus "due eastern border regions with Afghanistan, process". This is invariably a national southern Afghanistan was seen as providing problem and even when countries have up- Pakistan with "strategic depth" in the event held sanctions measures against listed indi- of an Indian invasion. Even if a little am- viduals and entities, other august bodies bivalent, well-informed Pakistanis will tell have upheld the appeal of the individuals – you now that India is not a threat. If that is the different attempts of Yussef al-Qadi the case, then it should now be possible to (a.k.a. al-Kadi) are just one such case in start reorganizing, re-equipping and re- point. This has proved counterproductive in training at least a significant proportion of the international effort to counter terrorism the Pakistan Armed Forces for asymmetric and has only encouraged weaker govern- operations. The success of such a reorgani- ments not to fully implement the required zation will, however, depend on how far the sanctions measures. threat to the country is appreciated and understood. That is a fundamental and crucial Another reason for these less than compli- aspect of countering terrorism. ant attitudes has been revulsion on the part Terrorism: difficulties faced by national governments and the international community 17

of many people to the so-called "global war mine the legitimacy of the government. These on terror". The use of this phrase, the Global insurgents are using terror as one of their War on Terror (GWOT), to define the threat tactics, both against the villagers whose as perceived by the Bush Administration hospitality they have demanded and against was unfortunate. Notwithstanding the fact what they perceive to be legitimate targets, that Osama bin Laden "declared war" whether police stations, politicians, hotels against the Jews, the 'crusaders' (USA) and or mosques. their Allies, the use of this phrase proved to be counterproductive and repugnant to many countries which were initially sup- 6. Conclusion portive following the 9/11 attacks in the US. Most prefer to speak about "combating It is fundamental for national governments transnational terrorism", if in fact the term and the international community to under- "terrorism" is to be used at all. The key point stand the threat if the right strategy, tactics is that terrorism per se is a tactic utilized by and resources are to be deployed, even militants, in this case Islamist militants, in when this carries cost implications and attempting to achieve their goals. It is not means that the local armed forces may have possible to wage war against a tactic. to be retrained.

This brings us back to the question as to "Hearts and minds" are an important part of whether the "Global War on Terror" in an effective counter-insurgency campaign. South Asia can ever be won. This would It is crucial to harness the will of the popu- appear to be a non-question. Whatever the lation against the insurgents or, sometimes, nature of the particular threat with which to persuade the insurgents of the futility of we are faced collectively, it has to be dealt their perceived cause, ideology or even with effectively. But wars are something plain simple criminal behaviour. It is often that has to be won. This would infer a vic- the case that terrorist acts are murder and tory and a foe who has been vanquished. mayhem, nothing more than crimes com- And so in this case to call it a war is incor- mitted against people and property. rect. What remains the single most important fact is that the threat must be appreci- The final significant pillar of countering in- ated and understood in order for the cam- surgency is intelligence – sound, accurate, paign to be successful. The threat in the timely intelligence to enable the "forces of case of the Taliban, whether in Pakistan or good" to triumph over the "forces of evil". in Afghanistan, and their Al-Qaida associ- This is also another reason why developing ates, is that they are staging an insurgency. the "hearts and minds" aspect of the campaign is so important, because when the ci- This is particularly relevant in the case of vilian population is supportive of the secu- Pakistan, because the Taliban are intent on rity forces then it is much more inclined to changing the legal basis of the state in provide information which in turn becomes which they live as well as trying to under- essential intelligence.

Notes

1 See paragraph 4 of UN Security Council docu- 2 See www.satp.org – India terrorist groups. ment S/2009/245 dated 13 May 2009. The Team's report of March 2008 is document S/2008/324. 3 See http://wordnet.princeton.edu. Naxalite ideology, strategy and tactics

Vinod Anand

Left-wing extremism (LWE) is one of the the CPI (Maoist) has been seen as the most three ideological streams in India which have active and strident front of Naxalism in the employed terror tactics in varying degrees, country. the other two being Islamism and ethnicity- based movements in India. Also known as It is an accepted fact that Naxalites typically Maoism or Naxalism, LWE is based on operate in the vacuum created by the func- the belief that terrorism is the only viable tional inadequacy of field-level governance strategy for revolutionary movements on structures, they espouse local demands, and behalf of the weak in the Third World, take advantage of the prevalent dissatisfac- among others in countries such as Malaysia tion and feelings of perceived neglect and or Vietnam. It had surfaced in Europe and injustice among the under-privileged and elsewhere, especially since the late 1950s. remote segments of the population. Simul- The Red Army Faction in West Germany taneously, systematic efforts are made by (also known as the Baader-Meinhof Group), them to prevent the execution and imple- the Red Army Faction of Japan, the Weath- mentation of development projects, to de- ermen and Black Panthers in the USA, the liberately target critical infrastructure like Tupamaros of Uruguay and several other railways, roads, power and telecommunica- left-extremist terrorist groups sprang up tions, and to try and create an environment, during the 1960s in different parts of the through violence and terror, where the gov- world at the same time as the Naxalites and ernance structures at field levels are shown Maoists in India. as being ineffective.1

LWE or Naxalism as it is called in India Assessing the root causes of Naxalism, a took its roots from a village called Naxal- Planning Commission document outlines bari in West Bengal. The movement was eight reasons for the growth of the resis- started in 1967 by an extremist break-away tance movement: sale and transfer of tribal faction of the CPM, the Communist Party land to other people; indebtedness resulting of India (Marxist). This extremist faction in the sale of land for inconsequential had a fairly extensive following among the amounts; eviction of tribals by non-tribal tea-garden labourers of the peasantry in the people or government authorities; conver- area. In order to address their grievances, sion of land from community ownership Naxalites resorted to violence in accordance to individual ownership; treatment of with their ideology of a peoples' revolution- tribal people as encroachers on forest ary movement. By 2004 there were several land, depriving them of their traditional Naxalite/Maoist groups operating in differ- source of livelihood; failure to give title ent parts of the country and adhering to a deeds for government land distributed to radical and extremist ideology. That same tribal people; developments that disturb year in a very significant development two the environment in tribal areas and force of the major groups – the Peoples' War indigenous people to move out; and large- Group, operating in Andhra Pradesh, and scale displacement because of development the Maoist Communist Centre in Bihar and projects such as multi-purpose irrigation adjoining areas – merged to form the Com- projects, power plants, mining projects and munist Party of India (Maoist). Since then, urbanization.2 20 Vinod Anand

India's political leadership is confronted After taking over the reins a second time, he with the challenge Naxalism poses to inter- further observed in June 2009 that if LWE nal stability and economic development. continued to flourish in areas which have There is also a wide degree of recognition natural resources of minerals, the climate for in the polity that it is not merely a law en- investment would certainly be affected. He forcement problem but the phenomenon has resolved to implement a two-pronged ap- its root causes in socio-economic depriva- proach to tackle Naxalism by ensuring the tion. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has development of regions breeding LWE while observed that: "In many areas, the phe- maintaining law and order. nomenon of Naxalism is directly related to underdevelopment. It is not a coincidence According to several estimates, a total of that it is the tribal areas that are the main 170 districts and 14 states are afflicted with battleground of left-wing extremism today. the menace of 'red terror'; some to a lesser, Large swathes of tribal territory have be- others to a greater degree (see Figure 1 for come the hunting ground of left-wing ex- map of the Naxal-affected areas). Lately, tremists. Exploitation, artificially depressed there has also been a resurgence of Naxalism wages, iniquitous socio-political circum- in three tribal districts of West Bengal where stances, inadequate employment opportu- the incidence of Naxalism had declined in nities, lack of access to resources, under- recent years. From January to the first week developed agriculture, geographical isola- of June 2009 alone, there were over 900 in- tion, lack of land reforms – all contribute cidents of red terror resulting in the death of significantly to the growth of the Naxalite 123 Naxals and 155 security forces personnel movement". (see Figure 2 detailing fatality figures).

Figure 1: Naxal-affected areas Naxalite ideology, strategy and tactics 21

The casualties have been evidently more Furthermore, the new government in its than the violence-related casualties either in action plan for the next 100 days and beyond Jammu and Kashmir or in the North East. In has included eliminating Naxalism as one the recent past there has been a concentration of its prime objectives. Statistical evidence of violent incidents and casualties mainly in provides support to the Prime Minister's re- some districts of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand cent assertion that Naxalism is the greatest and, to some extent, in parts of Bihar and threat to security in India. Institutionaliza- Orissa. According to the 2008 report of the tion of Naxalism across Central India is ex- Ministry of Home Affairs, these four states pected to challenge the state over the next together accounted for 80% of all incidents decade or more. of Naxal violence in the last three years.

Figure 2

Naxal violence: fatality figures

Data up to June 9, 2009

States Civilian Security Naxal Total Forces

Andhra Pradesh 5 0 7 12

Bihar12181343

Jharkhand 28 24 33 85

Karnataka0000

Chhattisgarh 39 56 45 140

Maharashtra 5 34 15 54

Orissa 15 18 10 43

West Bengal 18 5 0 23

Uttar Pradesh 0 0 0 0

Tamil Nadu0000

Total* 122 155 123 400

Note: compiled from news reports and provisional. 22 Vinod Anand

2008

States Civilian Security Naxal Total Forces

Andhra Pradesh 28 1 37 66

Bihar35211571

Jharkhand 74 39 50 153

Karnataka3137

Chhattisgarh 35 67 66 168

Maharashtra 2 5 7 14

Orissa 24 76 32 132

West Bengal 19 4 1 24

Uttar Pradesh 0 0 2 2

Tamil Nadu0011

Total 210 214 214 638

2007

States Civilian Security Naxal Total Forces

Andhra Pradesh 24 4 45 73

Bihar 23 21 5 49

Jharkhand 69 6 45 120

Karnataka1168

Chhattisgarh 95 182 73 350

Maharashtra 9 2 8 19

Orissa 13 2 8 23

West Bengal 6 0 1 7

Uttar Pradesh 0 0 1 1

Total 240 218 192 650 Naxalite ideology, strategy and tactics 23

2006

States Civilian Security Naxal Total Forces

Andhra Pradesh 18 7 127 152

Bihar 16 5 19 40

Jharkhand 18 47 29 94

Karnataka0011

Chhattisgarh 189 55 117 361

Maharashtra 13 3 33 49

Orissa 3 4 16 23

West Bengal 9 7 4 20

Uttar Pradesh 0 0 2 2

Total 266 128 348 742

1. Naxalism: was ruthlessly suppressed by the police, the ideology-oriented terrorism movement based on Charu Mazumdar's ideas of agrarian revolution has now be- What is the ideology of LWE and what is come a force of worrisome proportions. The its genesis in India? The movement started Prime Minister has repeatedly referred to it almost 40 years ago by the charismatic per- as the biggest threat to internal security. sonality Charu Mazumdar may have lost its intellectual and ideological moorings be- Charu Mazumdar was greatly influenced by cause of the way it has become criminalized Maoist ideology and wanted to bring about and yet it has now spread to around 170 an armed revolution based on the ideology districts all over the country. Its ideological and methods of the Chinese Communists base has diminished and it now includes which had led them to victory in China. In many lumpen elements. But it also seems to fact, during the height of the Cultural have some support from deprived and Revolution in China, the People's Daily de- alienated sections of the population. The scribed the uprising in May 1967 as "a peal movement had its origins in the small vil- of spring thunder". He authored a series of lage of Naxalbari in West Bengal where on articles in the mid-sixties which formed the the basis of the 'land-to-tiller' programme of basis of Naxalism and were referred to as the state government, the poor peasants and the "Historic Eight Documents". He and landless labour who expected to get only a his party, the Communist Party of India third of the produce (let alone some land) (Marxist-Leninist) i.e. the CPI-ML, had were denied their just dues. From a small running fights with the Communist Party incident in Naxalbari in May 1967 which government of West Bengal on ideology 24 Vinod Anand

and methods to implement his revolutionary India. Thousands of big imperialist multina- ideas. A respected figure in the Naxalite tional corporations (MNCs) and transna- movement, his death in a police station in tional corporations (TNCs) have been al- July 1972 led to a temporary collapse of lowed to operate. Through these policies im- central authority. There was continued pres- perialism is increasingly moving towards sure to curb Naxal activities during 1975 trampling so-called sovereignty underfoot, in when a state of emergency was declared by the neo-colonial manner of semi-colonial Indira Gandhi. Meanwhile, there were many countries. Maoists further expound that there splits and mergers within the Naxalite are four major contradictions in their coun- groupings and left-wing parties. try, namely:

After the 2004 merger of the two major 1. Contradiction between imperialism and Maoist parties – the People's War Group the Indian people; (PWG) and the Maoist Communist Centre 2. Contradiction between feudalism and (MCC) – into the CPI(M), a document titled the broad masses of the people; "Party Programme" was issued which contains the ideological basis of the merged en- 3. Contradiction between capital and la- tity. The document is replete with the erst- bour; while diatribes and jargon of the Maoist 4. Contradiction among the ruling classes. brand of communism reminiscent of Maoist China. Some of the important aspects of The first two of these four major contradic- Maoist ideology, thought processes and pre- tions are basic contradictions. These two cepts are given in the following paragraphs. contradictions have to be resolved during the current stage of the new democratic The Party Programme document avers that revolution, and they also play the major or "The domination and control of the imperi- dominant role in chalking out the overall alist finance capital in every sphere of our strategy for the current stage of the Indian life – economic, political, military and cul- revolution.4 tural – continued to increase further and further. Actually, the imperialists control Further, Maoists consider the caste system to the key sectors of the Indian economy and be a specific form of social oppression and even the administration ... Recently, the exploitation affecting the oppressed castes stranglehold of imperialist finance capital of the country. Most adivasis (aborigines/ over agricultural sector also continued to tribals) are in the process of developing as tighten along with other sectors because nationalities and the overwhelming majority of WTO and imperialist globalization ... of them are the most suppressed and re- Hence, India continues to be a semi- pressed sections of Indian society. Maoists colonial and semi-feudal country under the envision that the new democratic revolution neo-colonial form of imperialist indirect will smash this imperialist and feudal ideol- rule, exploitation and control".3 ogy and culture and will establish the new democratic culture and socialist ideology. According to the Maoists, globalization is a And this is how they will do it: "For this it war on the people and it is the ideology of will be necessary to smash the state ma- market fundamentalists. Market fundamen- chinery and all other centres of power of the talists are destroying everything the nation ruling classes thoroughly and build up the had possessed and preserved for centuries. democratic power of the people based on a Further, they consider the Indian bureau- worker-peasant alliance. In this way, our cratic class to be one of the chief instruments revolution will follow the path of the Chi- for imperialist exploitation and control over nese Revolution". Naxalite ideology, strategy and tactics 25

In addition the Maoists also consider urban Minister in November 2008 which did not struggles to be very important, particularly succeed because at several places mice had those of the working class. Their long-term chewed up the cable connected to the im- objective is to capture the big cities, the provised explosive device (IED).6 Earlier, 'fortresses of the enemy'. During the last the ideologues of CPI (Maoist) have con- phase of the so-called New Democratic sidered the Islamic upsurge as a progressive Revolution, Maoists aim to build a four- anti-imperialist force in the contemporary class united front comprising all these world. In their view it is wrong to describe classes – the working class, peasantry, petty the struggle that is going on in Iraq, Af- bourgeoisie and national bourgeoisie – un- ghanistan, Palestinian territory, Kashmir, der the leadership of the working class Chechnya, and several other countries as a based on a worker-peasant alliance. The ul- struggle by Islamic fundamentalists or as a timate objective is to promote and establish "clash of civilizations". In essence, Maoist "Socialism and Communism on a world ideology avers that all these are national scale" in India. Victory in revolution is to liberation wars notwithstanding the role of be achieved through a three-pronged strat- Islamic fundamentalists in these struggles. egy (termed the three 'magic weapons'):5

1. A strong revolutionary party based on 2. Strategy and tactics Marxism-Leninism-Maoism as its guiding ideological basis in all matters; In order to put their ideology into practice, Naxalites have been following the basic 2. A strong and well-disciplined people's tenet of Mao that "political power grows out army under the leadership of such a party. of the barrel of a gun". In their Congress The people's army will primarily be built held in 2007 they resolved to intensify and through the armed agrarian revolution and extend the "people's war" to all fronts by from among the landless poor peasants, agri- taking the guerrilla war to a higher level cultural labourers and the working class; of mobile warfare in areas where it had already reached an advanced stage and to 3. A united front of all revolutionary classes expand their areas of armed struggle to as under the leadership of the proletariat based many states as possible. on the worker-peasant alliance and on the general programme of the people's demo- An important element of this strategy was cratic revolution. This united front will be the use of targeted violence to oppose the built in the course of advancing the armed establishment of Special Economic Zones struggle and for the seizure of political (SEZs) which were considered to be "neo- power through armed struggle. colonial enclaves on Indian territory". Ac- cording to Maoist precepts, SEZs are not In essence, the basic pillars of the Maoist only seizing the fertile farmlands of the ideology are the annihilation of class ene- peasants but are transforming the entire mies, and violence as the means of securing country into special zones for the unhin- its goals. Recently, Koteshwar Rao alias dered ruthless exploitation and control by Kishanji, the deputy leader of India's CPI imperialists and the big business houses. It (Maoist), observed that "the Islamic up- is ironical that in order to promote its eco- surge should not be opposed as it is basi- nomic growth the Indian government had cally anti-US and anti-imperialist in nature. emulated this idea from the land of Mao We, therefore, want it to grow". He also where such radical ideology has long been took pride in the fact that he had personally discarded. And that is why there has been a ordered the attack on the West Bengal Chief spate of violent protests in Singhur and 26 Vinod Anand

Nandigram in West Bengal and at other ways have been classified by the railway places in states where SEZs are being authorities as catastrophic node failures which established or land is being acquired for big have destroyed the station, office, railway line projects and MNCs. This is particularly so or cable. There are many more disruptive in West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa and node failures which do not lead to substantial Chhattisgarh. damage and hence go largely unreported.9

Economic targets were identified as the For instance, Naxals continued their strat- main focus of the organization in the Febru- egy of targeting jails by damaging on 28 ary 2007 Congress of the Maoists: "The 300 January 2008 a jail under construction in planned SEZs (Special Economic Zones) Orissa. Bihar has seen ten incidents of jail- are all set to create de facto foreign enclaves break in 2007 in different jails throughout within our country by grabbing lakhs of the state, including at Beur, Motihari and acres of prime agricultural land by the for- Sasaram. The Naxals have found railway eign and local sharks. The Unity Congress infrastructure a lucrative target. Thus, the of the CPI (Maoist) calls on the people to East Central division of Indian Railways resist the seizure of their lands and houses which covers the states of Bihar, Jharkhand and beat back the demolition hordes by and West Bengal has reported a rising trend whatever means possible".7 This strategy of Naxal attacks on railways. The statistics was fostered in various ways with reports of of the last three years indicate that there has involvement of Naxal workers in rioting in been an almost hundred percent increase in West Bengal's Special Economic Zone attacks on vital infrastructure. (SEZ). The Naxals had tried to justify their opposition to SEZs by describing the Furthermore, the focus on economic war- concept of an economic zone as a modern fare serves two purposes: it keeps develop- version of the old 'zamindari' system. The ment beyond the reach of the common man minutes of the Congress meeting show the and increases the Naxals' access to finance Maoists planned to arm locals where SEZs through extortion and ransom. On the macro were proposed. The Annual Report of level, a Hindustan Times report quoting the the Central Military Commission of CPI Indian Defence Yearbook claimed that (Maoist) had outlined the plan to disrupt Naxalites in Jharkhand earned an annual several proposed infrastructure projects, levy of 3.2 billion rupees or 10 percent of steel plants and mining projects. They also the state's total revenue in a year. The mal- planned to transform their current 'guerrilla' aise is particularly rampant in Jharkhand, units into 'mobile wings' capable of striking Chhattisgarh, Orissa, West Bengal, Bihar in various parts of the country and then dis- and Andhra Pradesh. Given that most of appearing.8 these states are rich in minerals, the Naxals impose a levy on businesses, transporters As part of the shift to increased mobile war- and contractors including those collecting fare, they have launched operations against tendu leaves, an industry which is the main security units by deploying major forces of source of agricultural income for the poor. 200 to 300 guerrillas. This has led to heavy Rs 70,000 per annum are charged from coal casualties, economic disruption and large- firms and Rs 25,000 per annum from trans- scale destruction. Some areas of Orissa, porters. Political parties are also known to Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh illustrate the pay Naxalite protection money. The salary first stages of this phase of mobile warfare. paid to Naxals is said to be Rs 1,000 to Rs Government buildings and infrastructure 3,000 per month, with an insurance cover of such as jails, police stations and railway Rs 1.25 lakh if they die in encounters. stations have been targeted. Attacks on rail- Home Ministry figures suggest Naxalites Naxalite ideology, strategy and tactics 27

have a strength of 10,000 guerrillas and a the previous two years. They blasted high- large number of modern arms and equip- tension power lines in Bastar in June 2008, ment. which led to an eleven-day power outage in six districts that affected mining operations Since 2008 there have been increasing signs and the movement of ore from Bailadilla that the Maoists would continue to focus on mines. The National Mineral Development economic targets, given the upsurge in in- Corporation is reported to have incurred a vestment in the mineral-rich states of loss of Rs 9 crore a day. Days after the Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. According to 'Bastar blackout', the Maoists blew up the government sources in 2007, Chhattisgarh control station of a mini hydel power gen- had succeeded in garnering Rs 107,899 eration unit at Sileru in the Donkarai area of 12 crore (1 crore is equal to 10 million rupees) East Godavari District. of new investment.10 It is apparent that the Maoists want to target this investment par- As part of their larger strategy, Maoists also ticularly since local aspirations remain un- enforce economic blockades, some of which fulfilled, given that development is taking are inspired by a series of strikes (called place only in terms of the extraction of iron "chakka jams" – traffic blockades – in local ore and other minerals without any tangible parlance) organized by the Maoist party in transfer of benefits to the local population. Nepal. Naxals have carried out blockades on several occasions; recently at the end of In order to realize their goals of expanding April 2009 in Latehar. On such occasions their struggle to new areas, the Maoists train services across the states have been have attempted to draw new states like adversely affected. While major incidents Jammu and Kashmir, Gujarat, Rajasthan, were avoided, some of the blockades have Himachal Pradesh and Meghalaya into their not been without their share of bloodshed. fold. These are prosperous areas with large- Maoists struck at two places late June 2008, scale growth and development where holding up traffic on national highways 33 contracting can attract heavy levies for the in Jharkhand, and 42 in Orissa. Such block- Naxals. Karnataka is emerging as another ades cripple economic activities, especially area of concern. The once peaceful Malnad in the transport sector. With businessmen region is wracked with the threat of Naxal- having low confidence in the law enforce- ism. Regional, zonal and state committees ment agencies, they usually think it prudent targeting urban cities and towns are report- to withdraw trucks and other commercial edly being set up. Two principal industrial vehicles.13 belts have been reportedly identified for urban mobilization – Bhilai-Ranchi-Dhanbad- According to the Maoists' list of targets, Kolkata and Mumbai-Pune-Surat-Ahmed- projects identified by the Naxals on their hit 11 abad. list include the bauxite mining project of the Jindals group in Visakhapatnam, the Po- The destruction of economic infrastructure lavaram irrigation project, steel plants pro- serves a dual purpose, that of obliterating posed by Tata Steel, Essar and Jindals steel state authority and threatening companies group companies in Chhattisgarh, the Cen- with extortion. In October 2008 Maoists set tre's proposed railway line in the Rajhara- fire to the tower of Airtel, a private telecom Raighat-Jagdalpur sector, Posco's steel plants company, in the Dhotawa area of Katkam- (under construction) in Orissa, power plants sandi in Bihar. Maoists had targeted this proposed by Reliance in Uttar Pradesh telecom company as the management had and the Kosi irrigation project in northern refused to pay them a levy of Rs 1 lakh over Bihar.14 28 Vinod Anand

The rural sector is also not being ignored. vised explosive devices (IEDs) which caused Pamphlets pasted in villages carried a very significant casualties among police and warning addressed to tribals in Bastar to other security personnel. The IEDs have stop all farming activities in the region. The been increasingly used by the Naxalites in Naxals have instructed peasants to join the well-planned attacks on even high-security struggle instead of supporting private and personalities in addition to other targets like public sector companies which were said to police stations and police vehicles. On a be harming the economy. Peasants who re- rough estimate and in what is quite a dis- sisted have been brutally killed. turbing phenomenon, the Naxalites have so far caused nearly 100 landmine explosions Moreover, the Naxalites seem to be repeat- every year, with considerable loss of life of ing some of their tactics from the 1969-72 state security personnel and police. period of attacks on political opponents, in addition to attacking the police. For in- There has been an increasing militarization stance, in West Bengal they have started and simultaneous acquisition of sophisticated targeting specific CPM (the current ruling firearms and ammunitions by the Naxalites. party in West Bengal) functionaries at local Their arsenal now boasts of self-loading levels where such local leaders were mobi- rifles (SLRs), AK series of rifles and INSAS lizing support against the Naxalites. Their rifles. It is believed that currently the Maoists targets are not confined to the familiar have also gained access to the technology of Naxalite-affected districts of West Mid- fabricating rockets and rocket launchers. A napore, Purulia and Bankura. During 2005- government report estimates that there are 08, a number of CPM party functionaries 9000-10,000 armed cadres with access to were attacked and killed in the districts of about 6,500 firearms and in addition there Nadia, Burdwan, Birbhum, Murshidabad, may be further 40,000 full-time cadres.16 etc. where the Naxalites were known to be present in the 1970s. It shows that they have been regrouping in some of the areas where Naxalites have also been able to establish a they had earlier influence in 1969-72. This basis in the Dandakaranya forest, spanning trend is likely to extend to other areas also. Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Another element of Naxalite strategy has parts of Maharashtra. This area which is been to disrupt elections so as to stall the also known as Abuj Mand is a 10,000 square democratic process, especially in Chhattis- kilometre zone of unexplored forest with a garh, Jharkhand, Orissa and Bihar.15 During meagre population of 20,000 and hardly any the polls in April 2009 a number of attacks surface communications. This area is the size were carried out to discourage the common of a small country such as Israel or Belgium. people in Naxal-affected areas, especially Law enforcement agencies have hardly en- by taking advantage of the thinning out of tered this area. It is fast becoming a firm security forces for the national elections. base for the Maoists and its central location The objective again was to show the erosion facilitates the launching of operations, proof the government's authority and the con- vision of training as well as rest and recu- solidation and enlargement of their own peration. Training camps in the area are control and influence amongst the populace. spread across three to four square kilome- As a perception management exercise they tres and even concrete bunkers have been had earlier warned the people to boycott the found there. The central government in polls. concert with the respective state governments has announced its intention to carry Meanwhile the Maoists developed some ex- out operations against the Maoists in this pertise in the use of landmines and impro- area after the 2009 monsoons.17 Naxalite ideology, strategy and tactics 29

3. Government counter-strategy taken and improvement of inter-state coordination in an exchange of intelligence, per- The real key to fighting the Naxalites is sonnel and any other kind of assistance. A reliable and timely intelligence. Thus, ef- Standing Committee of Chief Ministers of fective integration of strategic and tactical concerned states under the chairmanship of intelligence and information at police station the Union Home Minister has been estab- level is of vital importance. The approach lished to work out a coordinated policy and of the governments at both central and specific measures to deal with the Naxalite state level is based on the triple pillars of problem on the political, security and de- strengthening the police forces, promoting velopment fronts. development and improving the socio- economic conditions of the affected areas An inter-ministerial group has also been through a number of schemes. formed to review and coordinate the work being done to provide livelihood and In March 2006, the then Union Home Min- amenities to the deprived population. The ister outlined a 14-point strategy to deal ministries of rural development, environ- with the Naxal problem. Conceding that ment and forests, Panchayati Raj and the Naxalism was not merely a law and order Planning Commission have their repre- problem, the government was to address sentatives on the committee, with the main this menace simultaneously and in a holistic objective of bringing the alienated people manner in the areas of political security, de- into the mainstream. velopment and public perception management. A collective and coordinated ap- Development and security have been proach, improved police response and no merged under the aegis of the Naxal Man- dialogue with the Naxalites unless they agement Division in the Union Home Min- agreed to give up violence and arms were istry. It monitors the Naxal situation and some of the points stressed in the strategy counter-measures being taken by the af- document. Faster socio-economic develop- fected states with the objective of improv- ment, distribution of the land to the poor ing ground-level policing and development and speedy implementation of land reforms, response in accordance with the location- restoration of government machinery, resto- specific action plans formulated or to be ration of people's faith in the government formulated by the affected states. It also re- and efficient use of mass media to highlight views whether the various development the futility of Naxal violence and loss of life schemes of the ministries and departments and property were other key areas of atten- for the Naxal-affected areas are being prop- tion in the government's strategy paper. erly implemented and if the funds released However, when strategy is often articulated under such schemes are being optimally without being implemented it starts to ac- utilized. quire the status of mere rhetoric and re- peated platitudes. The government had also started a Back- ward Districts Initiative in 2003-2004 under There have been attempts to overcome the which 55 of the worst-affected districts difficulties of coordination and adopting a were to receive considerable funds over a unified approach by different state govern- period of three years. But for numerous bu- ments and the centre by setting up an 'Em- reaucratic reasons there have been problems powered Group' of Ministers headed by the in the utilization of these funds. This not Home Minister and tasked with closely only highlights the apathy of the state gov- monitoring the spread of the Naxal move- ernments but also their inability to implement, reviewing special measures to be ment governmental strategy. Weak govern- 30 Vinod Anand

ance, political expediency and unwilling- plans would be the two important prongs of ness or reluctance of the police to enter for- the new plan in addition to many other ele- ested areas and strongholds of Naxals also ments. Even though Multi-Agency Centres impedes the development activities. Similar have been established and operationalized, conditions prevail in other states. the fact remains that Naxals are exploiting the lack of intelligence and coordination Furthermore, since the Naxal problem is among the government agencies and the directly related to the tribal and forested police. However, in her outline of the cur- areas, the government has been also making rent government's resolve to meet the chal- efforts on the legislation front in the direc- lenge of terrorism President Pratibha Patil tion of recognizing the right of forest- has stated that a National Counter Terrorism dwellers to forest produce. Another impor- Centre would be established to coordinate tant area on which central government has multi-agency centres (MACs), operations, been pushing the states is the introduction intelligence and anti-terror measures at the of land reform. This remains a political is- national level.19 The aim is to ensure that sue and various states have implemented "the centralized agency for collection and land reforms with mixed success. The states collation of intelligence would be strength- which have effectively implemented land ened to ensure effective intelligence sharing reforms, for instance West Bengal and Ker- and processing ... Enhanced information ala, have witnessed a significant decline of and intelligence sharing on a real-time basis Naxalism. would be made possible by the creation of a net-centric information command struc- Funds under the Police Modernization ture". Meanwhile, a succession of Naxal Scheme have been given to the states to attacks in the second week of June 2009 has modernize their police force in terms of highlighted many flaws in the functioning modern weaponry, latest communication of the intelligence agencies and security equipment, improvement of mobility and forces, including their training, arms and other infrastructure including provision for tactics. These further underscore the urgent additional protection and fortification of need to implement the measures suggested. vulnerable police stations in Naxal areas. The states are also being supplied with Additional Central Paramilitary Forces have mine-protected vehicles to counter the been deployed on a long-term basis to quell landmine and IED attacks. However, the the Naxal violence and in the wake of the Naxals have devised new means of defeat- Mumbai terror attack of 26 November 2008. ing mine-protected vehicles by placing an Up to 135,000 personnel are to be recruited extraordinary amount of explosive charge in in a phased manner. A special counter- the IEDs , as for example in Chhattisgarh. insurgency force of central paramilitary forces designated COBRA is also being By the December 2008 yearend review of raised to counter Naxal violence. India Re- the Naxal situation, the government had put serve battalions have been sanctioned in into effect a number of measures to counter Naxal-affected states not only to strengthen the growing menace of left-wing extrem- the security apparatus but also to wean ism. In response to continued violence in away youth from rebel activity by providing 2009 the new UPA government is chalking them with gainful employment. Even as the out a 100-day action plan for all ministries action plan for the anti-Maoist offensive is and departments.18 The stress would be on being finalized, the Ministry of Home Af- reorienting and fine-tuning its response to fairs is working to significantly strengthen Naxal violence. Improving ground-level both infrastructure and the arsenal to coun- policing and acceleration of development ter Naxal forces. The forthcoming budget Naxalite ideology, strategy and tactics 31

will see a major increase in allocation for the state police forces, and above all a lack of this purpose. unified political will in dealing with a menace that has been declared the single largest There are also plans to set up three to four threat to the security of India. One stark les- specialized anti-Maoist centres at strategic son which emerged from the Lalgarh crisis locations – mainly at inter-state borders – was that while political parties may play each equipped with about five helicopters. their opportunistic games in other arenas, in The centres would be manned by the Cen- the realm of national security this is the tral Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and pilots equivalent of playing with fire. Those in re- from the Border Security Force (BSF), Army sponsible positions are duty-bound to uphold and Air Force. The government has even the rule of law. The only beneficiaries of approved the use of Indian Air Force assets political one-upmanship are those who are like unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for fighting against the state. In such a murky reconnaissance and gathering of intelligence game, political leadership ends up becoming in Naxal-affected areas. An auxiliary force an unintended abettor of the outlaws. of ex-servicemen drawn from the Naxal- affected areas is also being formed to carry out duties such as detecting mines and ex- 4. Concluding observations plosive devices laid by Naxalites. If there is one lesson to be learned from Training the police force is another aspect history, it is that economic and social de- which has been receiving greater attention velopment cannot take place in an environ- in states like Andhra Pradesh and Chattis- ment of insecurity. Security and develop- garh which are providing special training to ment are intimately related as development counter the well-trained and motivated cannot proceed without security, and lack of Naxal guerrillas and fighters. Chattisgarh development becomes a cause for alienation started a Counter-Terrorism and Jungle of the people and leads to insecurity. Fur- Warfare College in Kanker three years ago ther, the abrogation of the government's where police are given rigorous training in own responsibility for governance, as in the guerrilla warfare and trainees live in the open case of the situation in the Dandakaranya in the dense jungles of Bastar and learn to forests (Abuj Mand) where rebels are almost live off the land. Training is modelled on running their own parallel government, fur- the Army's Counter-Insurgency and Jungle ther erodes the authority of government and Warfare School at Vairengte in Mizoram. the faith of people in the government. In Other states have started sending their po- addition, the Naxals gain respectability, lice personnel to the college for training. strength and revenue resources to perpetu- ate their vested interests.20 Even if all of the above were to happen, one of the weakest areas has been the lack of a Furthermore, movements such as the anti- coordinated approach by political parties to Naxalite Salwa Judum may appear to be at- the scourge of Naxalism. The events in June tractive on the face of it, and yet the people 2009 in the case of the Maoist resurgence in involved in such movements become iso- the Lalgarh area of West Midnapore district lated and sitting targets for the Maoists.21 in West Bengal were a classic example of Such people require the protection of the political expediency, lack of coordination police and in the case of this particular between various agencies, frictions between movement, 45,000 to 50,000 people have the centre and state governments especially been displaced to become refugees in their when both are of different hues, the sorry own land, thereby further complicating the state of training and equipment especially of situation. 32 Vinod Anand

Lack of political will to implement land Naxalism. Although the government with reforms, political expediency and sheer its long experience of tackling insurgency inertia in utilizing allotted funds for de- has come up with a good strategy to deal velopment as well as a disjointed ap- with Naxalism, it is at the implementation proach to the problems of the populace level where concerted efforts are still still remain the main causes promoting needed.

Notes

1 The Ministry of Home Affairs in its Annual 13 Bhonsle, Rahul: Editor South Asia Security Report for 2007-08 has accepted these as Trends, July 2007.

reasons for the expanding influence of the 14 Naxalites. Col. Rahul K. Bhonsle: Naxal Economic Warfare Strategy, 7.7.2007; Online magazine Boloji.com: 2 http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/stories/ http://www.boloji.com/opinion/0366.htm 20071116501502400.htm 15 Jain, Bharti: Centre readies plan to flush out 3 Maoist document titled "Party Programme" is- Maoists after monsoon, in: The Economic sued after the merger of the two main factions Times, 11.6.2009. into CPI (Maoist), www.satp.org 16 Second Administrative Reforms Commission, 4 Ibid. Eighth Report, titled: Combatting Terrorism: 5 Ibid. Protecting by Righteousness, a Government of India publication, June 2008. 6 "We support Islamic terrorism", interview of 17 Second-in-Command of CPI (Maoist) in: The Jain, Bharti: Centre readies plan to flush out Hindustan Times, 10.6.2009. Maoists after monsoons, in: The Economic Times, 11.6.2009. 7 Maoist document titled "Call of the Unity Congress-9th Congress of the CPI (Maoist)", 18 Kumar, Vinay: Naxal attacks: Centre rushes http://satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/maoist/ high-level team to Jharkhand – Home Ministry documents/papers/callofunity.htm reorienting strategy, in: The Hindu, 14.6.2009. 8 "From CRZ to SEZ: Naxal Reins of Terror", in: 19 Government promises action, not just tough talk, Jharkhand News, 23-30.4.2007, http://news. on error, in: The Economic Times, 5.6.2009. jharkhand.org.in/2007_04_01_archive.html 20 See Kishanji's (Deputy Leader of the Maoists) 9 Bhonsle, Rahul: Editor South Asia Security interview in The Hindustan Times of 10.6.2009 Trends, February 2008. where he states that most of the leadership is alive and safe in Dandakaranya camps, and with 10 Media release by Chhattisgarh Government, in: their mass base intact they would recover their The Hindustan Times, 27.6.2007. influence in Andhra Pradesh where it has waned 11 Asian Age report quoted in South Asia Security in recent years. Trends, November 2007. 21 Strictures have been passed against the move- 12 K. Srinavas Reddy: Maoists call for a blockade, ment and the government by the Supreme in: The Hindu, 22.6.2007, http://www.hindu. Court; See also: Why still prop Salwa judum, com/2007/06/22/stories/2007062250581300.htm activists ask CM, in: The Hindu, 10.6.2009. Islamic terrorism in India: organizations, tentacles and networks

Animesh Roul

For decades now, India has been facing vari- This paper focuses on Islamic terrorism in ous forms and waves of terrorist violence India, with particular attention to the major ranging from separatist and ethnic terrorism groups operating and perpetrating violence to ideological and religion-driven terrorism. in the country and their operational and lo- With the emergence of new and hybrid terror gistical linkages with each other. organizations and conglomerates, there has been a sea change in the nature of terror tac- At least two sets of players are involved in tics, technology and the way terror tentacles terrorism in India. The first set comprises and networks have spread in the hinterlands Pakistani and Bangladesh-based terror of India and beyond. groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish- e-Mohammad (JeM) and Harkat-ul-Jihadi India battles terror violence in three major Islami (HuJI). The second set is composed of geographical zones: Jammu and Kashmir a network of disgruntled Muslim youth, stu- (jihadi separatist, cross-border terrorism), dents and criminal elements which largely Northeastern States (separatists, ethno-Isla- work as a support system, e.g. the Student mist, cross-border terrorism) and Central- Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). Past Eastern States (Left-wing Extremism/ research has shown that a small section of Naxalism). However, since the 13 December India's Muslims – now called home-grown 2001 terror attack on the Indian Parliament jihadists – has taken to terrorism and has ac- in New Delhi that marked the beginning of quired international links in recent times. this century, the country has been experi- Terrorism among Indian Muslims appears to encing serious menaces from Islamic terror- have originated following the Babri Mosque ist groupings that have infiltrated into India demolition in 1992. Since then, the potential mostly from neighbouring countries with the for home-grown terrorism has grown exten- sole objective of perpetrating the so-called sively throughout the country and was fur- Islamic jihad. With the expansion of terror ther aggravated by the 2002 Gujarat com- bases and sleeper cells across the country, munal riots. these terror groups are increasing their activities in the urban centres of India, target- In recent times, JeM and LeT along with the ing strategic infrastructures and financial HuJI-Bangladesh are collectively utilizing lifelines of the country in order to cripple it. India's porous eastern border for anti-India activities by establishing 'surrogate bases' in Before the December 1992 demolition of neighbouring Bangladesh, Nepal and in the Babri Masjid, a mosque in Ayodhya in the Middle East for the movement of trained north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, terrorism cadres and finances for their operations. in India was to some extent synonymous These groups are recruiting Indian youths, with the Khalistan movement in Punjab sending them to Pakistan for training and which was separatist in nature. Subse- re-inducting them via Bangladesh to carry quently, Pakistan-sponsored cross-border out terrorist attacks in India's heartland. terrorism emerged as a proxy war strategy Many recent terror strikes like the serial which later developed into a systematic blasts in Delhi, twin blasts in Varanasi, terrorist movement against India. mosque and market blasts in Hyderabad and 34 Animesh Roul

the Mumbai carnage are the results of the LeT's presence in J&K was first detected af- collective efforts of these groups. ter many Pakistani and Afghan mercenaries infiltrated across the Line of Control (LoC) The Union Ministry of Home Affairs of in tandem with the Islami Inquilabi Mahaz, a the Government of India has noted in its terrorist group then active in the Poonch dis- Annual Reports that involvement by JeM, trict of J&K in the early 1990s. However, the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Bangladesh- first ever attack was reported in August 1992 based HuJI has been observed in most of when LeT militants killed nearly 19 Indian the terror strikes in the country. And the re- Army soldiers in J&K.1 At a meeting held at cent emergence of Indian Mujahideen (IM) Tehran in 1993, the LeT had forged an un- as a home-grown, indigenous jihadi organi- derstanding with the Jammu and Kashmir zation with active support from all Pakistan- People's Conference (JKPC) and Al Barq. based terror groups has created new fears This paved the way for their joint operation in the Indian security establishment. Most and mission in J&K. disturbingly, these groups have been using their sleeper cells to carry out urban and The JUD/LeT and their leaderships are af- mass casualty attacks. filiated to the Ahle Hadith school of thought, a reformist Islamic movement.2 The objectives of LeT are to establish Nizam-e- Mustafa (God's government) in the world 1. Major terror organizations and the merger of J&K with Pakistan. At the operating in India behest of Pakistan's ISI, it later added anti- India goals: to destabilize India and impede 1.1 Lashkar-e-Taiba its economy. LeT has introduced fidayeen missions (suicide tactic used by terrorists) in Lashkar-e-Taiba (Army of the Pure) is the Jammu and Kashmir and has intermittently most deadly Pakistan-based terror organi- struck in India's heartlands with its tactics of zation that has been perpetrating the maxi- indiscriminate shooting and grenade attacks. mum number of attacks in India's heartland. Apart from its traditional area of operation Pakistan's July 2009 dossier admitted for the in Jammu and Kashmir, the group has first time that the LeT carried out the 26 No- spread its tentacles from Western Gujarat to vember 2008 multiple Mumbai attacks. The the eastern border of Manipur and West dossier named senior LeT operative Zaki-ur- Bengal, and from the southern state of Ker- Rehman Lakhvi as the mastermind. Among ala to Jammu and Kashmir in the North. many of its signature acts, LeT operatives carried out the October 2005 serial bomb ex- The LeT is the military wing of the erstwhile plosions in Delhi and the December 2005 religious organization, Markaz Da'wat wa'l attack on the Indian Institute of Science Irshad (MDI), which later changed its name campus in Bangalore. With a penchant for into Jama'at-ud-Da'wah (JuD) following the attacking security forces, especially the 9/11 events in the USA when the Lashkar paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force group was banned and declared a Foreign (CRPF), LeT carried out an audacious attack Terrorist Organization by the United States. on a CRPF recruitment centre in Rampur, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed is the chief of Uttar Pradesh, on 1 January 2008.3 This New Lashkar-e-Taiba. Some of the prominent Year's Day attack on the CRPF recruitment LeT operatives are Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, centre was considered to be the dress re- Yahiya Mujahid (spokesman), Abdullah hearsal for the Mumbai mayhem later that Muntazer Gaznavi (media handler) and Abu year, and it came just over a month after the Hamza. November 2007 multiple blasts in court Islamic terrorism in India: organizations, tentacles and networks 35

premises in three major cities of Uttar has been expanded to many other parts of Pradesh: Lucknow, Faizabad and Varanasi.4 the country, including the Indian Parliament attack on 13 December 2001. Prior to this, JeM had perpetrated a similar kind of suicide 1.2 Jaish-e-Mohammed operation in storming the J&K Legislative Assembly in October 2001 and killing nearly Jaish-e-Mohammed (Army of the Prophet) is 35 persons, including 10 security force per- a Pakistani-based terrorist grouping mainly sonnel. active in Jammu and Kashmir in its initial phase, but later collaborating with LeT for terror acts beyond J&K. Maulana Masood 1.3 Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami Azhar is the supreme leader of JeM which is a splinter group of Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami, the 'Movement of (HuJI), an Islamic organization that was Islamic Holy War', has emerged as the larg- formed in the early 1980s to fight the war est international Sunni Islamic jihadi organi- against the former Soviet Union in Afghani- zation created in and by Pakistan after the stan. JeM's leader Maulana Masood Azhar Lashkar-e-Taiba. It is broadly based in two was a member of HuJI before he established countries as HuJI-Pakistan and HuJI- his own organization on 31 January 2000 in Bangladesh (HuJI-B), whereby the latter is Karachi in Pakistan.5 Before that, Azhar was more potent than the former. HuJI-B cadres one of the three jailed terrorists released are active in India and they are mostly in- from prison in India in December 1999 in filtrated from India's eastern corridors. The exchange for hostages in the hijacked Indian organization has perpetrated attacks in col- Airlines Flight IC-814.6 laboration with other Pakistani-based groups such as JeM, LeT and home-grown radicals In common with other J&K-centric organi- from the Student Islamic Movement of India zations, this group believes in the secession (SIMI). HuJI has existed in the subcontinent of the state with the ultimate aim of merger since the early 1980s with active support with Pakistan and the destabilization of In- from Pakistan-based Deobandi religious dia. The group claims that each of its offices bodies, including the Jamaat-ul-Ulema-e- in Pakistan would serve as schools of jihad. Islami (JuI), and most recently it has set up Most of the Jaish-e-Mohammed terror acts Indian units in Uttar Pradesh. It also has are fidayeen (suicide terrorist) attacks in bases in Rajasthan, Karnataka, Maharashtra which terrorists of the organization storm a and Andhra Pradesh. high-security target, including security forces' bases, camps and convoys before they With direct logistical help from LeT, JeM are killed by retaliatory action. and SIMI, HuJI has coordinated many attacks in India in the recent past including the The unit is closely linked through the Bi- March 2006 Sankatmochan Temple blast in noria madrassa in Karachi with the former Varanasi. HuJI's involvement in the May Taliban regime of Afghanistan and its pro- 2007 twin blasts in Hyderabad and in the tégé Osama bin Laden and his Al-Qaida serial bomb blasts of May 2008 in Jaipur network. The JeM is also reported to have came to light during the investigations. links with Sunni terrorist groups operating in Pakistan such as the Sipah-e-Sahaba Paki- HuJI defined itself as the second line of de- stan (SSP) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ). fense for every Muslim.7 Its initial objective Supporters are mostly Pakistanis and was to organize relief camps for the Afghan Kashmiris, but also include Afghans and mujahideen during the Soviet-Afghan war. Arab veterans of the Afghan war. Its activity Afterwards, it began to recruit and train 36 Animesh Roul

mujahideen with support from ISI and grew three Uttar Pradesh cities: Varanasi, Faiza- as a terrorist grouping. Since it has different bad and Lucknow. IM described the attacks units in different countries, it has multiple as "Islamic raids" and justified them as re- objectives and activities. HuJI contingents venge against lawyers who had allegedly operating in Pakistan or Jammu and Kash- assaulted a couple of Jaish-e-Muhammad mir initially focused on liberating J&K, but terrorist suspects. IM also alleged that the its current mobilization outside J&K dem- lawyers had refused to take cases involving onstrates its present strategy to spread ter- other alleged terrorists, including suspected rorism across the country and destabilize HuJI leader and Phulpur-based Islamic cleric India with support from the proscribed Stu- Muhammad Waliullah, the alleged master- dents Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), mind of the March 2006 Sankatmochan ISI and other Islamist extremists. temple blasts in Varanasi.

Apart from having a base in Bangladesh, Basically, members of IM are mainly drawn Pakistan, J&K and some other pockets in from proscribed organizations such as the India, by 2005 the group had spread its Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), tentacles to almost 24 countries, including the Pakistan-based LeT and the Bangladesh- Chechnya, Fiji, Iran, Ireland, Malaysia, based HuJI. IM's email statements indicate Myanmar, Philippines, Tajikistan, Uzbeki- their ties with SIMI when they put forward stan, the United Kingdom, the United States, demands for the release of SIMI cadres un- and parts of Africa and the Middle East.8 In der detention or serving jail terms. However, March 2008, the US blacklisted Harakat- the newly emerged IM continues to deny any ul-Jihad-i-Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B) for connection with Pakistan, Bangladesh, or attacks in India and other countries, as a any of their agencies (e.g. Pakistan's Inter- "global terrorist organization".9 Services Intelligence [ISI] and Bangladesh's Directorate General of Forces Intelligence [DGFI]). It also denies any links with terror- 1.4 Indian Mujahideen ist groups such as LeT and HuJI.

Indian Mujahideen (IM) has emerged as a The Indian Mujahideen has been trying to well-organized jihadi terrorist group in In- garner support from India's teeming Muslim dia, claiming responsibility for a number of population, often by raising indigenous terror attacks perpetrated in various urban issues in its manifestos. Since the Uttar centres of India during 2007-2008. Even Pradesh court attacks, IM, as a home-grown though the exact moment of IM's formation jihadi unit, has claimed responsibility for at is not known, the recent arrest of a number least four major terror strikes in 2008 that of IM operatives has revealed its possible targeted civilians. Each attack came with existence and involvement in terror strikes prior emails to the media citing a list of anti- in India as far back as late October 2005. Muslim atrocities in the country. The group The name "Indian Mujahideen" was report- justifies the violence by tagging the terror edly conceived at a terrorist conclave at- campaign as the "rise of Jihad" and the re- tended by top leaders of the Lashkar-e- venge of "Gujarat".10 Taiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami (HuJI) in Pakistani-administered Kashmir The top leaders have been identified as Ri- in early May 2008. yaz Bhatkal, Abdul Subhan Qureshi Amir Reza, Iqbal Bhatkal, Muhammad Khalid, IM came into the open for the first time in Shahzad Ahmed, and Ariz Khan. The most November 2007, when simultaneous bomb surprising revelation has been the many IT blasts targeted lawyers in court premises in professionals found to be involved in IM's Islamic terrorism in India: organizations, tentacles and networks 37

activities, including wealthy professionals democracy. The group's aim was to establish Asghar Peerbhoy, Salman Kadar Shaikhand, Dar-ul-Islam (land of Islam) by using vio- and Asif Bashiruddin Shaikh, who have lence, if necessary, to convert non-Muslims. played pivotal roles in generating funds for the organization and planning attacks.11 In the early 1990s, SIMI activists were in- doctrinated by Pakistan's ISI and travelled The Indian Mujahideen has four wings, each far and wide to garner support. The grouping wing having a distinct responsibility for convened an Ikhwanul (Muslim Brother- spreading terror in India with the active as- hood) conference in Kanpur city in October sistance of LeT:12 Shahabuddin Ghouri Bri- 1999 which was attended by around 20,000 gade which is headed by Amir Raza and people including Sheikh Yaseen (Hamas), largely responsible for planning and exe- Qazi Hussain Ahmed (JI, Pakistan) and the cuting attacks in southern India. imam of the Al-Aqsa mosque. In 2001, SIMI again convened a mass conclave in Mumbai, The Muhammad Ghaznavi Brigade is re- especially for Muslim youths. It was here sponsible for planning and executing terror that SIMI urged fellow Indian Muslims to strikes in northern India and Shaheed-al- launch an armed jihad in India with the es- Zarqawi Brigade is responsible for targeting tablishment of an Islamic caliphate as the political and other important personalities of goal. The SIMI network is actively involved the country as well as organizing suicide in conversion in the southwestern states of attacks. IM has a media wing which is India. headquartered in Pune, Maharashtra. The wing is responsible for email and print me- Kashmir-centric Pakistani terrorist groups dia communications and press releases of like Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Taiba manifestos before or after the blasts. and Jaish-e-Muhammad have had strong logistical and operational ties with SIMI. In late 2002, Maharashtra police seized as The arrest of IM cadres from different loca- many as 30 compact discs containing tions demonstrates the geographical spread speeches of Maulana Masood Azhar, chief of a terror network that now spans the of Jaish-e-Muhammad, along with clippings length and breadth of India – possibly even of communal riots in Gujarat from SIMI extending into neighbouring states. offices in Aurangabad. Also, SIMI's pro- Taliban stance in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the group's anti-US demon- 1.5 Students Islamic Movement of India strations in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, (SIMI) Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan, and SIMI's glorification of Osama bin Laden as SIMI was founded in 1977 at the University the ultimate "jihadi" prompted the Indian of Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, as a radical stu- government to impose a ban on the group in dent organization. The interlinked triad of 2001.13 the ummah, caliphate and jihad determined SIMI's postures and activities in the country After the government proscription, SIMI thereafter – the group's logo includes a operated closely with the Hyderabad-based Quran, an AK-47 assault rifle and a globe. Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Shair-e-Islam and the SIMI started as a united platform for Muslim radical Islamic vigilante unit, the Darsgah students and youth in the country, with the Jihad-o-Shahadat ("Institute for Holy War and objective of restoring the caliphate to bring Martyrdom") which has countrywide centres about the unity of the ummah by rejecting teaching self-defense to Muslim youths, and the concept of nationalism, secularism and aims to make the Quran the constitution of 38 Animesh Roul

India.14 SIMI also operated through the Is- For the past few years terrorist units have lamic Youth Front in Kerala and the Tamil been trying to increase their geographical Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam. span by operating in southern and western parts of the Indian states Goa, Karnataka, Intelligence agencies have established SIMI's Kerala, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu. In involvement in major terrorist strikes in In- fact, there are reports of terrorist groups dia and believe that the organization has poised to infiltrate into the country through created the country's first home-grown ter- the coastlines and island provinces of Indian ror network called the Indian Mujahideen southern territories. For instance, the LeT (IM). SIMI attempts to indoctrinate youths has already established a Marine Jihad Unit by convincing them to fight for Islam. To to operate against India.15 Besides the usual accomplish this goal, SIMI uses provocative routes of intrusion in Jammu and Kashmir, audio and video clippings which selectively LeT has managed to build alternate routes depict the atrocities committed against through the porous borders of Nepal and Muslims from Gujarat to Kashmir and from Bangladesh as well while establishing bases Bosnia to Afghanistan. in the Gulf countries. Investigating agencies have now confirmed that LeT is working on Having originally started as a student a new strategy which involves using Dubai movement, SIMI has in due course become a as the centre of planning for future strikes major radical Islamist movement with a against India. Past and ongoing terror inves- strong presence in most of the northern and tigations suggest the Gulf countries have southern states of India. SIMI, along with been major hubs for LeT terrorists, and other militant groups, has jointly carried out many terrorist plots against India are now many terrorist acts including the 13 Septem- hatched outside Pakistan's territory. The re- ber 2008 serial blasts in Delhi and multiple cent arrest and interrogation of a top LeT op- explosions in Ahmadabad and Jaipur as well erative and close confidant of Hafiz Saeed as blasts in the Uttar Pradesh courts in the revealed the future terror plans in the coun- recent past. try. Md Umer Madni who was arrested in the capital Delhi had been in touch with LeT's Hafiz Saeed since 2000 and was involved in SIMI has operational ties with many foreign "talent scouting" for the Lashkar-e-Taiba in militant student groups, including the Saudi India.16 Madni is also the LeT commander in Arabian Jamayyatul Ansar (JA), whose Nepal. He confessed to having travelled far membership comprises former SIMI activists and wide inside the country and also in and expatriate Indian Muslims. neighbouring Nepal and Bangladesh with the purpose of jihadi recruitment, fund-raising activities, and sending youths to terror train- 2. Ties and tentacles ing camps in Pakistan-Administered Kash- mir. He had claimed to know terror master- The previous section has described terror minds Sabahuddin and Fahim Ansari who networks, the occasionally symbiotic rela- were arrested and accused of the November tions among terror groups operating in the 2008 Mumbai attacks. region, and their geographical distribution. Relying on recent investigations into vari- The recent spurt of terror activities by the ous terrorists events, this section looks more LeT in India is directly linked to contribu- closely into the intricate ties between LeT tions from the Gulf-based cells that have and other terror groupings and how their planned and financed most of the group's op- terror tentacles have been spreading in the erations. The LeT's Gulf-based networks are region and beyond. becoming the lifeline for LeT/JuD operations Islamic terrorism in India: organizations, tentacles and networks 39

in Pakistan and India. Investigations by In- key Lashkar operative there, was in touch dia's intelligence agencies into the 2008 with LeT's Fahim Ansari just before the No- urban attack uncovered ties to many Gulf vember 2008 carnage in Mumbai. According countries, especially the financial networks to the information shared between Oman and in Muscat, Oman. At least four LeT opera- Indian police, Aziz Hooti could have had di- tives handled India operations from Gulf rect ties to the Mumbai attackers. It is now cities such as Muscat and Sharjah. They are believed in investigating circles that both identified as Wali, Muslim Basheer, Sarfaraz Aziz Hooti and Nawaz played vital roles in Nawaz and Abu Haroon. These four are be- financing terrorist activities in India, espe- lieved to be of Pakistani origin and to have cially in providing funds for Indians under- been deputed in the Gulf to raise funds and going jihadi training in the PAK region. monitor operations planned for India. While Wali was involved in fundraising activities Nawaz's interrogation has revealed many and was responsible for coordinating with facts about Lashkar's plans in southern India. SIMI and IM militants in India, Muslim According to his statement, he and Ummer Basheer, based in Muscat, was the chief co- Haji, an IM cadre and key figure in the terror ordinator for the LeT in the Gulf. Funds for network in south India, had hatched a plan to terrorist operations were raised by Wali, who carry out serial bomb blasts in Chennai and provided the money for the blasts and who Bangalore. However, Lashkar's Chennai plot sent youths from the southwestern state of was dropped by Wali due to funding issues. Kerala to Pakistan-Administered Kashmir Haji is the man who sent Kerala youths to (PAK) for terrorist training.17 Muzaffarabad in Kashmir for training. Aziz Hooti was also involved in the Bangalore Investigating agencies identified Abu Ha- plan while the terrorist triumvirate (Wali, roon, a travel agent in Muscat, as the opera- Nawaz and Hooti) met in Sharjah in early tive who facilitated the movement of money 2008. Nawaz's statement also sheds some to India from the Gulf region through hawala light on Lashkar's operational strategy in channels. Abu Haroon also coordinated be- southern India. tween the Lashkar leadership in Pakistan and India. The fourth terrorist, Sarfaraz Nawaz, The beginning of 2009 was marked by a another LeT man from Muscat and a former crackdown by Islamabad on the LeT and SIMI leader was brought from Muscat to In- other Pakistan-based terror groups in which dia recently in an extraordinary rendition by LeT came under severe pressure from the India's external intelligence agency in early Pakistan administration to de-escalate its 2009. Also, three other terrorists involved in jihadi agenda against India. Despite the the July 2008 Bangalore serial blasts and crackdown and the detention and subse- other incidents have been identified as quent release of LeT leaders in Pakistan, the Saleem and Jaheed from Bangladesh (ha- LeT is reportedly once again looking to wala operators) and Ali Abdul Azeez Hooti strike India by plotting against its vital in- of Oman, the chief terrorist financier. stallations and infrastructure.

The Gulf's increasing ties to terrorism resur- faced when investigations into the November 3. Conclusion 2008 Mumbai carnage tracked a similar pattern involving Gulf-based financiers and It can be argued that in India the Kashmir- Lashkar coordinators. The role of Aziz centric cross-border terrorism fuelled by Hooti as one of the financiers in this con- Islamabad's territorial ambition and proxy nection is currently under investigation. war strategy has recently become fodder for Hooti, the Oman-based businessman and Islamic extremists to spread their tentacles 40 Animesh Roul

beyond Jammu and Kashmir. Although the quite immune to the global jihadist move- Federal government has proscribed numer- ment, and that the call for the same from ous organizations for their anti-India activi- Bin Laden, Al-Qaida or LeT does not im- ties, many are still flourishing with political pact Indian Muslims. and religious patronage from across the borders. Groupings like HuJI, LeT, Jaish Another school of thought argues that this and Hizb are still targeting India and getting mindset of the Indian Muslim is fast erod- all their support from Pakistan's ISI and its ing and that the last couple of decades have Bangladeshi counterpart, Directorate General witnessed many Indian youths falling prey of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), who have to jihadist thought and its agenda, perhaps formed a deadly alliance against India. It as a result of concerted efforts from Paki- must be noted that most of these above- stan and Gulf-based agencies. mentioned terrorist groups are members of Osama bin Laden's International Islamic This discourse notwithstanding, there do Front and have vowed to fight for the Mus- exist minuscule but strong jihadi elements lim ummah (the community of believers). which often raise the issue of J&K, the Gu- India has been experiencing cross-border ter- jarat pogrom and the Babri Mosque demoli- rorism from its eastern frontier too. The ter- tion in the context of global as well as Indian ritory of Bangladesh has been used as a safe Muslim suffering. They are now also backed haven for various militant groups operating by pro-Muslim human rights activists and in India's northeastern states and elsewhere. anti-violence NGOs and political or religious There is clear evidence that the growing Is- groupings. Since the November 2008 Mum- lamization of northeast India has been fa- bai attacks, the Ministry of Home Affairs has cilitated by Pakistan's ISI and spurred by accepted that terrorist groups including LeT political instability in bordering Bangladesh. and JeM have found support among dis- The extremely violent United Liberation gruntled elements within India. Front of Asom (ULFA) is now in the grips of ISI and DGFI along with Muslim United Liberation Tigers of Assam (MULTA). India cannot remain in permanent denial Also, the recent arrest of a Lashkar-e-Taiba that there is no involvement of Indian-born operative, Mufti Obaidullah, revealed the Muslims in international terror events: they spreading networks of LeT in neighbouring have been implicated in incidents like the Bangladesh. Obaidullah who is originally UK terror plots, and include terrorist sus- from India's West Bengal state told his inter- pects such as Dhiren Barot, Haroon Aswat, rogators that his task was to organize jihad and Kafeel Ahmed. India figures intermit- in Bangladesh in cooperation with HuJI18 tently in the jihad propaganda of Al-Qaida and Bangladesh-based Jam'atul Mujahedin and LeT. Al Qaeda's Adam Yahiye Gadahn of Bangladesh (JMB) operatives. and the group's deputy commander Ayman al-Zawahiri have made calls in many videos It can be argued that Indian Muslims are for attacks against India. Masood Azhar and susceptible to the global jihadi agenda and Hafeez Saeed constantly target India in their the worldwide Islamist call for a Muslim regular preaching and often directly brain- caliphate. However, there is a difference of wash youths to unleash jihad against India. opinion about the current growth of the homegrown jihadi threat in India. One sec- The radicalized – read Talibanized – neigh- tion of scholars which includes the political bours of India have also had an indirect im- elites (secular parties like the Samajwadi pact on the mindset of Indian Muslims and Party, Congress and other pro-Muslim re- made them less tolerant towards other regional parties) hold that Indian Muslims are ligions and society at large. Islamic terrorism in India: organizations, tentacles and networks 41

This is the current reality in India: there is a raising their heads and major terror group- new phase of Islamic extremism emerging ings choosing to combine forces and opt for in the country, with home-grown jihadists a collective execution of terror plans.

Notes

1 Rana, Muhammed Amir: Gateway to Terrorism, 8 Singh, Khurshchev: HuJI after the death of its New Millennium Publication, London 2003, India chief, IDSA Strategic Comments, New p.347. Delhi, 13.2.2008. 2 The Ahle Hadith (also Ahle Hadees) has been 9 US designates HuJI as global terrorist organiza- influential in the subcontinent with active ties tion, in: Hindustan Times, 7.3.2008. with Saudi Wahhabis and strong diaspora 10 The Rise of Jihad, Revenge of Gujarat: in: links. Literally meaning the "People of the Outlook India, 29.7.2008. Tradition of the Prophet", Ahle Hadith is called non-conformist by rival Islamic move- 11 Roul, Animesh: India's Home-Grown Jihadi ments, mostly because the movement does not Threat: A Profile of the Indian Mujahideen, in: conform to any of the four schools of Islamic Terrorism Monitor (Jamestown Foundation), jurisprudence or the commentaries and legal Volume 7, Issue 4, 3.3.2009. opinions based on them. 12 Ibid. 3 UP: Terror attack on CRPF camp, 8 killed, in: 13 Roul, Animesh: Students Islamic Movement Rediff.com, 1.1.2008. of India: A Profile, in: Terrorism Monitor 4 Terror strikes Uttar Pradesh; 15 killed in six (Jamestown Foundation) Volume 4, Issue 7, blasts, in: Zee News, 23.11.2007. 6.4.2006. 5 Rana, Muhammed Amir: Gateway to Terrorism, 14 Despite ban, SIMI worked through front outfits, New Millennium Publication, London 2003, in: Times of India, 29.3.2008. p.202. 15 Lashkar militants began killing spree in high 6 For a detailed timeline of this high-profile hi- seas, in: Daily Excelsior, 30.11.2008. jacking and hostage crisis, see 16 LeT militant Omar Madni remanded, in: The URL

Hein G. Kiessling

Im April 2008 betreute ich im Auftrag 60 Jahren auf dem Feuer hält, stellt die Du- des ISB-Büros der KAS eine Woche lang rand-Linie eine endgültige Grenze dar. In neun afghanische Universitätsprofessoren in Kabul aber hält man sich in der Grenzfrage Islamabad und in Peschawar. Fünf der Pro- weiterhin bedeckt. Man weiß, dass man am fessoren waren Paschtunen, vier von ihnen Status quo derzeit nichts ändern kann, ver- zugleich die Rektoren großer Universitäten sucht aber, die Türen für künftige Möglich- ihres Landes. Bei ihren Begegnungen mit keiten offen zu halten. Bei einem Auseinan- pakistanischen Kollegen und Studenten der derbrechen Pakistans würde Kabul hier mit Universitäten von Karachi, Islamabad und Sicherheit Ansprüche geltend machen. Peshawar wurden sie primär mit drei Fragen konfrontiert: 1. Die 70er-Jahre 1. Wann sorgt ihr dafür, dass die neuen ausländischen Okkupanten Afghanistan Die Nichtanerkennung der Durand-Grenze verlassen? durch Afghanistan führte bereits in den frü- hen 70er-Jahren zu Spannungen zwischen 2. Wann werden die indischen General- beiden Ländern. Im Oktober 1972 führte die konsulate in Afghanistan geschlossen? Unzufriedenheit der Marri-, Mengal- und Bizenjo-Stämme in Balochistan über die 3. Wann erkennt Kabul die Durand-Line Politik der federalen Regierung zu Unruhen, endlich offiziell an? die sich bis 1974 hinzogen. Die Balochen fühlten sich damals wie um die Reichtümer Die Antwort der afghanischen Besucher ihres Landes betrogen. Sezessionistische war eindeutig. Sie verneinten die Anwesen- Forderungen waren an der Tagesordnung. heit ausländischer Okkupanten in ihrem Der damalige Premierminister Zulfikar Ali Lande und verwiesen darauf, dass Pakistan Bhutto sah sich genötigt, die Regierung in wie Indien vier Generalkonsulate in Afgha- Quetta abzusetzen und, wie vor drei Jahren nistan habe. In Sachen Durand-Linie war beispielsweise Musharraf, die Armee zur die Antwort der Afghanen besonders deut- Beruhigung der Lage einzusetzen. Der lich. Diese sei Afghanistan 1893 in einer Schah von Persien half damals mit der Ent- Periode seiner Schwäche aufgezwungen sendung von Hubschraubern und Piloten, worden, sie sei für einen Zeitraum von er fürchtete ein Übergreifen der Rebellion 100 Jahren konzipiert gewesen und diese auf die von Balochen bewohnten Landes- seien vorüber. Eine Anerkennung dieser teile im Osten seines Reiches. Folgerichtig Grenze würde eine soziale Spaltung und kam es hier denn auch zu einer ersten Zu- Schwächung des paschtunischen Volkes sammenarbeit zwischen dem pakistani- bedeuten, die nicht akzeptabel seien. schen Geheimdienst ISI und dem iranischen SAVAK. Von Seiten Afghanistans aber kam Die Lehrer und Studenten der Universitäten Hilfe für die rebellierenden Stämme, hier von Karachi, Islamabad und Peshawar zeig- war Kabuls Geheimdienst KHAD großzügig ten sich von den klaren Aussagen sichtlich tätig. Nach der Niederschlagung des Auf- irritiert. Für das 1947 geborene Pakistan, standes ging der gesamte Tribe der Marris, das seinerseits die Kashmir-Frage seit über deren Führung sich zu sozialistischen Pa- 44 Hein G. Kiessling

rolen und Zielen bekannte, für fast 20 Jahre werden mussten, zu beraten und die Akti- ins Exil nach Afghanistan. Ein Teil von ih- vitäten von unterschiedlichen Stellen der nen wurde dort von KHAD zu Untergrund- Staatsmacht zu koordinieren. So fing alles kämpfern ausgebildet und verübte in den an. Die erste Phase des Krieges in Afgha- 70er und 80er-Jahren Sabotageakte in Pa- nistan hatte begonnen." kistan, vornehmlich in ihrer alten Heimat Balochistan, wobei Gas- und Elektrizitäts- Genauer gesagt, die Zeit der ISI-Aktionen im leitungen und -stationen bevorzugte Ziele Nachbarland Afghanistan hatte begonnen. waren. Der Marri-Tribe kehrte aufgrund Eine erste große Operation war 1975 die Ini- einer Amnestie erst 1991 nach Balochistan tiierung eines Aufstandes im Pansheer-Tal, zurück. Ihrer alten Siedlungsräume verlus- der zwar fehlschlug, Kabul aber zu der Er- tig, hausen sie bis heute in Lagern in der kenntnis verhalf, die pakistanische Karte Umgebung von Quetta. nicht zu überreizen. Raza Ali berichtet, wie der ISI auf Leute wie Hekmatyar, Rabbani, Auch Murtaza Bhutto, der nach dem Hän- Khalis und Masood aufmerksam geworden gen seines Vaters die Terrororganisation Al war und diese für seine Zwecke nutzte: Murtaza gründet hatte, ging für einige Zeit nach Afghanistan, wo ihm und seinen Leu- "Diese Individuen hatten einen gewissen ten Unterschlupf und Hilfe gewährt wurde. Einfluss auf verschiedene Kollegs und Uni- Al Murtaza machte danach mit Attentaten versitäten in Afghanistan, besonders in Ka- und blutigen Flugzeugenführungen von sich bul. Ihre konservativ-religiöse Orientierung reden, in den 80er-Jahren verfehlte ein und ihre Opposition zur kommunistischen Kommando zweimal nur knapp das Ziel Herrschaft hatte sie in einen Konflikt mit der eines erfolgreichen Attentats auf den da- Regierung gebracht … Sie überquerten re- maligen Präsidenten Zia-ul-Haq. Da sich in gelmäßig die Grenze von und nach Afgha- Afghanistan KGB und KHAD der Exil- nistan, wo sie einen Aufstand organisierten, Belutschen angenommen hatten, sah man der im Pasheer-Tal stattfand. Dieses Ereignis sich in Pakistan unter Zugzwang. Mit dem weckte Daud aus seinem Schlummer, ließ Ziel, afghanischen Unruhestiftern unter den ihn umgänglicher werden und den Ernst der Paschtunen im Grenzland zuvorzukommen, Lage erkennen. Er begann, sein Verhältnis stellte der ISI auf Anweisung von Bhutto zu Pakistan zu verbessern. Von da an rück- eine 5.000 Mann starke afghanische Gue- ten die Realpolitik und die Diplomatie in rillatruppe auf, die in Nordwestprovinz den Vordergrund. Daud ließ sich dazu her- (NWFP) ausgebildet wurde. Unter ihren ab, sich mit dem Thema der Durand-Linie ersten Absolventen waren Leute wie Hek- zu beschäftigen und damit aufzuhören, Ter- matyar, Rabbani und Masood, deren Namen roristen über die pakistanisch-afghanische in den 90er-Jahren weltweit bekannt wurden. Grenze nach Pakistan zu infiltrieren."

Als Folge der Ereignisse in Belutschistan In der Folge kam es zu Kontakten zwischen wurde 1973 im ISI zudem ein "Special den Regierungen beider Länder, PM Bhutto Operation Bureau" geschaffen, das zur legte einmal auf einer Auslandsreise einen Wiege des legendären Afghanistan Bu- kurzen Zwischenstopp in Kabul ein und traf reau’s der 80er-Jahre werden sollte. Chef sich mit dem afghanischen PM Daud. Es dieses Büros war Colonel Syed Raza Ali, wurde ein Treffen beider in Pakistan ver- der über seinen Auftrag schrieb: "Ich sollte einbart, wo alle bilateralen Probleme be- eine Organisation aufbauen und leiten, die sprochen und gelöst werden sollten. Das gebraucht wurde, um die Regierung über Treffen kam nie zustande, Daud wurde die vielfältigen Facetten der Bekämpfung 1978 von kommunistisch-linksgerichteten von Aufständen in Pakistan, die ausgemerzt Offizieren ermordet und Bhutto bekanntlich Der pakistanisch-afghanische Problemverbund 45

als Regierungschef 1977 von Zia gestürzt, bekannte Kooperation zwischen CIA und der ihn inhaftieren, verurteilen und hängen ISI im Spiel um Afghanistan der 80er-Jahre. ließ. Das Problem der seit 1893 existenten Hier nur einige Eckdaten: Durand-Line blieb somit ungelöst. Die USA und Saudi-Arabien zahlten jeweils ca. 2,5 Milliarden US$, hinzu kamen noch 2. Die 80er-Jahre einmal etliche Hundert Millionen Dollar als Spenden privater Geber aus der islamischen Der Einmarsch sowjetischer Truppen im Welt. Insgesamt wurden so für den Kampf Dezember 1979 eröffnete ein neues Kapitel in Afghanistan in den 80er-Jahren rd. in den afghanisch-pakistanischen Bezie- 6 Mrd. US$ aufgebracht. Der ISI nahm da- hungen. Die ersten Reaktionen hierauf in bei die Rolle eines "sole agents" im Ver- Rawalpindi waren Beklemmung bis Furcht. hältnis zu den Mudschaheddin ein und es Lassen wir hier noch einmal den ISI- versteht sich von selbst, dass dabei ein Teil Brigadier Raza Ali zu Worte kommen: des Geldes bereits in Pakistan hängen blieb. Immerhin, am Ende der 80er-Jahre waren die sowjetischen Truppen geschlagen und "Irgendwann in der ersten Januarhälfte 1980 aus Afghanistan abgezogen, eine illustre wurde eine Konferenz auf höchster Ebene Liste pakistanischer Militärs hatte schmu- abgehalten, um die Lage, die durch die cke Häuser und gepolsterte Bankkonten sowjetische Invasion entstanden war, ge- daheim wie im Ausland, und der ISI war nauer zu betrachten … Der Präsident (auch von einem relativ kleinen und schlecht aus- der COAS) und der Außenminister und gerüsteten Geheimdienst zu einem der ef- jeder, der zählte, nahmen daran teil … Der fektivsten und besten Nachrichtendienste erste Redner sagte, dass die Sowjets ge- zumindest in Asien geworden. Und das kommen waren, um zu bleiben. Sie sind Selbstbewusstsein pakistanischer Militärs eine Supermacht, sie haben noch nie ein und Politiker wie auch der afghanischen Land verlassen, das sie besetzt haben. Es ist Mudschaheddin-Führer war gewaltig ge- nur eine Frage der Zeit, bis sie an unserer stiegen, geboren war die Überzeugung der Grenze sein werden, sagte ein anderer Red- "we are second to no one" und der bis heute ner … und so ging die Debatte immer wei- existierende Glaube, dass man primär der- ter … Die Sowjets werden sich mit ihren jenige war, der die Supermacht Sowjetuni- Panzern einfach einen Weg bahnen. Die on zum Zusammenbruch gebracht hatte. zerlumpten Gruppen von schlecht ausge- rüsteten, unorganisierten Banden der afgha- Geerbt hatte Pakistan im Zusammenhang nischen Mudschaheddin mit schlechter Dis- mit dem Afghanistan-Unternehmen der ziplin werden der sowjetischen Besatzung 80er-Jahre aber auch ein Problem, das bis keinen Widerstand leisten können. Das heute weiter existiert. Das Land hat heute Spiel ist aus. Wir müssen unsere Politik in ca. 4,6 Millionen Drogenabhängige. Die Hinsicht auf Afghanistan neu konzipieren, Führer der zerlumpten, schlecht ausgerüs- sagte einer der Redner, auf den andere mit teten und unorganisierten Gruppen der Mu- ähnlichen Botschaften folgten." dschaheddin waren zu einem Großteil zu gut organisierten Drogendealern geworden, Präsident Zia-ul-Haq und sein damaliger die sie, so weit sie noch leben, bis heute ISI-Chef Generalleutnant Akhtar Rahmen noch sind. Neben ihnen gibt es heute weite- aber hatten den neuen Stellenwert, den Pa- re mächtige afghanische wie pakistanische kistan in den Augen der strategischen Pla- Drogenhändler und andere, die am Drogen- ner in Washington nun hatte, schnell er- fluss finanziell mit verdienen. Afghanistan kannt. Es begann die heute in großen Zügen produziert heute über 4.000 Tonnen Opium 46 Hein G. Kiessling im Jahr, das in Afghanistan selbst, in Pa- 3. Die 90er-Jahre und die kistan und in der Türkei vorwiegend zu He- Situation bis heute roin verarbeitet wird und danach den Weg weiter nach Westen findet. Die Hauptwege Wenn man die internationale Berichterstat- dieses Drogenflusses führen bis heute von tung über Afghanistan ab Mitte der 90er- Afghanistan entweder direkt über den Iran Jahre liest, wird man immer wieder auf die in die Türkei oder aber über pakistanisches Aussage stoßen, die dort ab April 1994 in Territorium, über seine Flugplätze, Häfen Erscheinung getretenen Taliban seien ein und die Makran-Küste nach dorthin. Geschöpf des pakistanischen Geheimdien- stes "Inter Services Intelligence" gewesen. Geblieben ist Pakistan aber auch ein, wenn Diese Behauptung ist falsch, in Wirklichkeit man so will, "positiver" Aspekt, es existiert war man im ISI-Hauptquartier am Aabpara eine auf Schwarzgeld basierende Schatten- Markt in Islamabad bis zum Herbst 1994 Ökonomie, die nach Meinung internationa- bzgl. des Kampfwertes der Taliban und ler Experten zumindest genauso bedeutend damit deren Nützlichkeit für Pakistan eher wie die offizielle Wirtschaft und ein we- skeptisch. Eine Mehrheit der im ISI mit sentlicher Grund dafür ist, dass das Land in Afghanistan beschäftigten Offiziere favori- der Vergangenheit trotz zeitweiliger Zah- sierte 1994 eine weitere Zusammenarbeit lungsunfähigkeit wirtschaftlich nicht zu- mit Gulbadin Hekmatyar und seiner "Hezb- sammenbrach. Verschiedene pakistanische e-Islami", mit denen man in den 80er-Jah- Regierungen brachten denn auch Verord- ren in Afghanistan so erfolgreich gegen die nungen und Gesetze "as good economic Armee Moskaus gekämpft hatte. measures to boost economic progress" auf den Weg, die den Zufluss von Schwarzgeld Erst Ende 1994 kam es zu ersten offiziellen und damit auch das Reinwaschen von Dro- Kontakten zwischen den Taliban und dem gengeldern erleichterten. Und ein Financial ISI, nachdem die neuen Gotteskrieger am Bill von 2008, angenommen vom Parlament 3. November 1994 in die strategisch wichti- (NA) am 22. Juni 2008, ermöglicht das He- ge südafghanische Stadt Kandahar einmar- reinbringen von Geld ohne jedwede Nach- schiert waren. Im ISI begann ein Umdenken prüfung seiner Herkunft, sofern 2% Abgabe in Richtung einer Abkehr von Hekmatyar und an das Government bezahlt werden. einer künftigen Kooperation mit den Tali- ban. Im November 1994 kam eine Taliban Großteilen der Welt, vornehmlich des Delegation erstmals zum ISI nach Islam- Westens, ist zudem ein Erbe aus dem abad, geführt von Mulla Rabani, der damali- Afghanistan-Unternehmen der 80er-Jahre gen Nummer 2 der Taliban und deren späte- geblieben, das bis heute weiterlebt und ren Außenminister. In der Erinnerung des Wirkungen entfaltet. Rund 60.000 Jehadis, damaligen ISI Chefs Generalleutnant Javed vornehmlich aus arabischen Ländern, aber Ashraf Qazi, der später unter Musharraf auch aus anderen Teilen der islamischen Pakistans Minister für Bildung war, lautete Welt kommend, waren in Camps in Af- der Tenor der ersten Taliban-Bitten an den ghanistan und Pakistan ausgebildet wor- ISI wie folgt: "Don’t help the Mujahedeen den. Afghanistan wurde so, und das gilt bis Commanders anymore, stay out, be neutral. heute, zum "… largest consumer and in- We don’t want weapon or money from you, deed laboratory for Pakistan’s jihad factory. but don’t stop food and oil supply to us Afghanistan also provided inspiration to which we will pay with our own money." the radical Islamists and enabled them to Nun wurden die Grundlagen einer künftigen refine the tactics of their deadly trade and Zusammenarbeit besprochen und ab Beginn then replicate the experience in battle- 1995 wurde der ISI zum mächtigen Mentor grounds around the world." 1 der afghanischen Taliban, eine Partnerschaft, Der pakistanisch-afghanische Problemverbund 47

die erst in der Folge der Ereignisse vom gic depth" vorstellte, erhielt er von den an- 11. September ein dramatisches Ende fand. wesenden Offizieren lang andauernden Bei- fall. Pakistan fürchtet, in einem Krieg mit Wenn somit der ISI nicht der Vater der Indien nicht genügend tiefen Ausweich- Taliban war, stellt sich die Frage, wer der und Rückzugsraum zu haben und sucht die- wirkliche Geburtshelfer war. Tatsächlich sen in einer Allianz mit Afghanistan und war es die von 1993 bis 1996 im Amt be- möglichst auch dem Iran. Hier wird auch findliche zweite Regierung von Benazir deutlich, warum man in Pakistan seit dem Bhutto, die aus wirtschafts-strategischen Abzug der Armee Moskaus darauf drängt, Gründen sichere Transportwege nach Zen- an der Spitze Afghanistans wieder Paschtu- tralasien und Westchina suchte und dabei die nen zu sehen, mit denen man solche Pläne Taliban schuf. In Zentralasien sah und sieht leichter zu verwirklichen glaubt. Experten Islamabad bis heute für sich ein großes halten dies allerdings für einen Irrglauben, Handelspotenzial, dort sah man Öl, Gas, da viele Paschtunen eher an ein Groß- Erze, Baumwolle etc. Hier erhofft man für Pastunistan glauben als an eine künftige sich einen Markt und für seine Kaufleute staatliche Einheit Pakistans. und Ingenieure neue Tätigkeitsfelder. Pa- kistan offeriert den zentralasiatischen Staa- Im Übrigen steht Pakistan mit seinen stra- ten und China die kürzesten Routen zu den tegischen Interessen beim Nachbarn nicht blauen Wassern des Roten Meeres und des allein. Hamid Karzai verschweigt das Tun Indischen Ozeans. Das Problem ist nur, dass anderer Mitspieler, wenn er sich über die diese Wege immer über Afghanistan füh- Einmischung Islamabads in die inneren ren. Eine nördliche Route führt von Pesha- Angelegenheiten seines Landes beklagt. Als war über Kabul, den Hindukush (Salang solche weiteren Mitspieler wären neben Tunnel), Mazar-e-Sharif nach Tirmez und den USA auch der Iran, Russland, Saudi- Taschkent in Usbekistan. Eine südliche Arabien, China und Indien zu nennen. Die Route von Quetta über Kandahar und Herat Absichten der USA sind deutlich, sie wol- nach Ashkabat in Turkmenistan. Zwar gibt len von Afghanistan aus den Iran isolieren, es, von China in den 60er-Jahren gebaut, Pakistan an seiner Westgrenze beobachten mit dem Karakorum Highway auch eine und kontrollieren, über Afghanistan für direkte Verbindung zwischen China und sich selbst Zugang nach Zentralasien haben Pakistan über den 4960 m hoch gelegenen und Russland und China den Zugang nach Kunjerab-Pass, der zur alten Seidenstraßen- Afghanistan und Pakistan erschweren. Stadt Kashgar führt, diese Hochgebirgs- straße allein aber ist unzureichend. Ihre wirtschaftliche Tragfähigkeit ist begrenzt, Der Iran zudem ist sie im Kriegsfall leicht zu blo- ckieren. Daher also das Interesse Pakistans Der Iran will die amerikanische Umklam- und auch Chinas, siehe den Neubau des merung aufbrechen, will den Abzug der Tiefseehafens Gwadar in Balochistan, an USA aus Afghanistan, dem Irak und aus den über Afghanistan führenden Routen. dem ganzen Mittleren Osten. Alle Möglich- keiten, die Pläne der USA zu torpedieren, Ein zweiter Grund für Pakistans Engage- werden in Verfolgung dieser Ziele von ment im Nachbarland Afghanistan ist das Teheran genutzt. Ergo mischt der Iran ver- Wunschdenken seiner Militärs nach strate- deckt auch in Afghanistan weiter mit. In gischer Tiefe. Als im Jahre 1991 der dama- Abkehr seiner Politik der 90er-Jahre, als er lige Armeechef General Aslam Beg vor Ahmed Shah Masood gegen die Taliban dem National Defence College, der Militär- von Mullah Omar unterstützte, lieferte Te- universität des Landes, sein Projekt "strate- heran verdeckt ab 2003 Waffen an die neu- 48 Hein G. Kiessling

en Taliban. Der Iran bietet sich zudem mit Ausbildungs- und Ruheraum uighurischer seinen bereits voll ausgebauten Straßen- Rebellen werden zu lassen. Peking hat aber und Eisenbahnverbindungen, seinen Pipe- auch enorme wirtschaftliche Interessen in lines und Tiefwasser-Häfen auch als wirt- Afghanistan selbst. Dort gibt es Uranerze, schaftliches Transitland mit Wegen an, die an denen es interessiert ist. Im "Jalrez-Tal in kaum länger sind als die pakistanischen Sana", nur 100 km südlich von Kabul gele- Routen. Der Iran steht damit auch in wirt- gen und heute als ein von Taliban kontrol- schaftlicher Konkurrenz zu Pakistan. Zu- liertes Gebiet geltend, befinden sich bei dem ist der Iran bemüht, in Kabul keine von "Aynak" mit 240 Millionen Tonnen zudem Paschtunen dominierte Regierung zum Zu- die nach heutigen Erkenntnissen zweit- ge kommen zu lassen. Über eine dortige größten Kupfererzlager der Welt. Der Be- Regierung, die proportional gerecht alle darf an Kupfer wird steigen, für Experten Volksteile umfasst, will er den eigenen ist der Zeitpunkt absehbar, an dem Kupfer kulturellen und wirtschaftlichen Einfluss in weltweit zur Mangelware wird. Für die Afghanistan, zumindest aber in Herat und Lagerstätten bei Aynak hat vor einigen den Provinzen im Westen des Landes, Monaten die Staatsfirma "China Metallur- schützen und erhalten. gical Construction Corp." gegen sechsfache Konkurrenz, darunter die amerikanische "Phelps Doge Corp.", die Ausbeutungs- Russland rechte bekommen, ein weiterer Fakt für das Interesse und Engagement Pekings an Af- Russland ist derzeit erfolgreich dabei, in ghanistan. Wir haben somit heute hier die seinem Hinterhof Zentralasien verlorenen etwas absonderliche Situation, dass NATO- Boden zurückzugewinnen und die Ameri- Truppen in Afghanistan unter hohen Kosten kaner von dort wieder hinaus zu drängen. auch zur Absicherung chinesischer Wirt- Diese Pläne schließen den amerikanischen schaftsinteressen beitragen und Peking hier- Abzug aus Afghanistan ein, ergo spielt für dem Westen später kaum einen Bonus Moskau verdeckt weiterhin dort in nicht einräumen wird. unbeträchtlichem Maße weiter mit. Es waren russische Schmuggler, die als Erste ab 2003 neue Waffen nach Afghanistan brach- Indien ten. Moskau hat im Land am Hindukush nicht unbeträchtliche wirtschaftliche Interes- Was Indiens Rolle in Afghanistan betrifft, sen. Es war immer bemüht, geplante Gas- gibt es in Pakistan unter Militärs und Poli- und Ölpipelines von Zentralasien über Af- tikern, unter Professoren, Studenten und ghanistan und Pakistan zur Arabischen See Journalisten eine regelrechte Phobie. Die zu verhindern. Sollten diese Pipelines künf- Militärs glauben, Indien habe mit 5.000 tig dennoch zustande kommen, ist von dem vornehmlich als Bauarbeiter getarnten Bemühen Moskaus auszugehen, an entspre- Männern bereits das Skelett einer ganzen chenden Kuratorien zumindest beteiligt zu Division im Norden Afghanistans statio- sein, um so Einfluss zu haben und mitzu- niert. Es sei in der Lage, diese Anzahl verdienen. schnell auf 50.000 Mann, d.h. auf Stärke eines Korps, zu erhöhen. Die Politiker spre- China chen von 4.000 Spionen, die als Ärzte Inge- nieure, Wissenschaftler und Unternehmer China hat in Afghanistan neben seinem schon getarnt seien. Die Anzahl der vier indischen erwähnten Suchen nach sicheren Routen Konsulate im Lande wird als ungerechtfer- von Westchina zum Indischen Ozean auch tigt gesehen, sie seien mit Angehörigen von das Interesse, das Land nicht wieder zum R&AW überbesetzt und in Wirklichkeit Der pakistanisch-afghanische Problemverbund 49

Ausgangspunkte für den von Indien unter- Pakistan stützten Untergrundkampf einer sog. "Balo- chistan Liberation Army" in Balochistan. Was Pakistans Interessen in Afghanistan an- geht, wird es weiterhin danach trachten, in Tatsächlich ist es Neu-Delhi nach dem Kabul eine gegenüber Pakistan kooperative, 11. September gelungen, seine aus der Zeit mehrheitlich von Paschtunen geführte Regie- des Kalten Krieges stammenden guten Be- rung im Sattel zu wissen. Im Hintergrund ziehungen zu Kabul wieder aufzunehmen. stehen dabei die bereits dargelegten Interes- Es hat beträchtliche Hilfs- und Wiederauf- sen des Landes nach sicheren Durchgangs- bauleistungen erbracht, über 100 Omnibusse routen von und nach Zentralasien, von denen geliefert sowie Straßen und Hospitäler ge- es sich große wirtschaftliche Impulse ver- baut. Dies geschieht mit Sicherheit nicht nur spricht. Zudem ist das Streben der Militärs in edler Art und Weise, denn Indien verfährt nach "strategic depth" weiterhin existent. nach dem Motto, der Feind meines Feindes Pakistan will, und wer kann es ihm verden- ist mein Freund. In Neu-Delhi konnte man ken, im Westen eine sichere, anerkannte durchaus hören, Islamabad sorgt für Unru- Grenze haben. Auch wenn die Präsidenten hen an unserer Nordgrenze, sprich Kaschmir, Hamid Karzai und Asif Zardari kürzlich also kümmern wir uns um Pakistans West- in Washington einträchtig neben dem US- grenze. Präsidenten Obama standen, das Verhältnis zwischen ihren beiden Ländern wird noch lange von Misstrauen geprägt sein. Nichts Saudi-Arabien zeigt das deutlicher als der Umstand, dass von einem zwischen Karzai und Zardari in Auch Saudi-Arabien gehört zu den Spielern Washington unterzeichneten Memorandum, im heutigen "great game" um Afghanistan. das Indien einen Wirtschaftskorridor von der Ein nicht unbeträchtlicher Teil der heute in Wagha-Grenzstation bei Lahore über den Afghanistan kämpfenden Taliban kommt Khyber-Pass nach Afghanistan einräumt, aus Saudi-Arabien. Dabei kann es Riad inzwischen nichts weiter zu hören ist. Hier nicht nur um die Unterstützung der dortigen dürften die Militärs ihre Bedenken angemel- wahabitischen Glaubensbrüder gehen. Es ist det und auf die Bremse getreten haben. In auch darum bemüht, an seinen Grenzen Pakistan ging man seit April 2009 davon keine unfreundlichen Nachbarn zu haben. aus, dass Hamid Karzai mangels personellen Hier sei zudem der pikante Hinweis gestat- Alternativen eine weitere Amtszeit als Präsi- tet, dass es in Saudi-Arabien 100 km nörd- dent Afghanistans vor sich haben wird. Man lich und 500 km südlich von Riad moderne weiß, dass Karzai gegenüber Indien freund- Raketensilos und Abschussanlagen gibt, in lichere Gefühle hegt als gegenüber Pakistan. denen heute Raketen neuester pakistanischer Die Militärs in den Hauptquartieren von Bauart lagern. Die Bestückung solcher Armee und ISI werden daher die Afghanis- Raketen mit konventionellen Sprengköpfen tan-Politik ihrer Regierung weiterhin genau macht wenig Sinn. Ergo kann von einer beobachten und notfalls ihr Veto anmelden. engen Kooperation zwischen Pakistan und Saudi-Arabien auch in Afghanistan ausge- In den Musharraf-Jahren hatten afghanische gangen werden. Man kann zudem von sau- Taliban (Mullah Omar und Shura) und die dischen Wirtschaftsinteressen in Afghanis- zu al-Qaeda gehörenden, aus verschiedenen tan ausgehen. Sollten einst Pipelines von Ländern stammenden islamistischen Kämp- Turkmenistan zur Arabischen See gebaut fer Schlupfwinkel vornehmlich in Balo- werden, dürfte Riad, wie im Übrigen auch chistan und FATA gefunden. Ihre pakista- Moskau, darum bemüht sein, den entspre- nischen Gesinnungsgenossen und ISI-Leute chenden Konsortien anzugehören. halfen ihnen, sich neu zu formieren und 50 Hein G. Kiessling

auszurüsten. Zusammen mit pakistanischen In Pakistan unterschätzten die Generäle über Taliban und Jehadis sickerten sie dann wie- die letzten Jahre zwei Dinge. Zum einen der nach Afghanistan ein und trugen zu- den zunehmenden Herrschaftsanspruch der sammen mit dortigen militanten Gruppen islamischen Militanten in Pakistan selbst. zur zunehmend fragiler werdenden Sicher- Bei einer Lagebeurteilung im Frühjahr 2009 heitslage bei. Die an der Grenze postierten mussten sie feststellen, dass die Regierung 100.000 pakistanischen Soldaten schauten nur noch 38% und die Taliban bereits 24% dabei weisungsgemäß weg. Das Musharraf- von NWFP kontrollierten. In weiteren 24% Regime betrieb so ein Doppelspiel. Es nahm von NWFP waren die Taliban zumindest zum einen am internationalen Kampf gegen permanent anwesend. Noch schlimmer aber den Terror teil, wo es sowohl Erfolge errang war, dass sich für 47% von Punjab die Ge- wie selbst Opfer trug. Zugleich aber trug es fahr höherer Aktivitäten der Taliban ab- zur Instabilität im Nachbarland bei und ver- zeichnete. Bei den Generälen setzte sich suchte so seine strategischen Interessen zu daher die Einsicht durch, dass die Taliban schützen. Auch heute sind ein Teil der Mili- die Grenze des aus taktischen und strategi- tanten in Afghanistan Ausländer. Nach schen Gründen bisher Tolerierten über- Mullah Mehmoud, einem Taliban-Comman- schritten hatten und man zeigen musste, wer der im Golestan-Distrikt in der Helmand- Herr im Hause ist. Zum anderen wurde im Provinz, sollen es 60% sein, wobei die GHQ wie beim ISI der Wille der USA un- meisten aus Saudi-Arabien und der pakista- terschätzt, in Afghanistan nicht ein ähnli- nischen Provinz Punjab kommen sollen.2 ches Debakel hinnehmen zu müssen, wie es Moskau beschieden gewesen war. An dieser Stelle sei der Hinweis gestattet, dass die im Westen verbreitete Vorstellung, Das Ergebnis ist das gegenwärtige Vorge- nach der die Madressen (Islamic Seminaries) hen pakistanischer Militärs in Swat, in an- des Landes die Hauptgeburtsstätten der pa- deren Teilen von NWFP und in FATA. Der kistanischen Jihadi-Kultur seien, nicht rich- Ausgang dieser Unternehmen ist noch un- tig ist. Einige bekannte Madressen spielen gewiss. Fraglich ist weiterhin, ob die Strate- ohne Zweifel hierbei eine Rolle, die über- gen in Rawalpindi und Islamabad ihre bis- wiegende Zahl der Jehadis aber kommt, wie herige Afghanistanpolitik in wesentlichen eine Studie des Sustainable Development Zügen ändern werden und ob in Kabul ein Policy Institute (SDPI) in Islamabad zeigt, in seinem Amt bestätigter Hamid Karzai aus dem Punjab. Und das in Karachi er- und seine neue Regierung ein entspanntes scheinende politische Monatsmagazin He- und kooperatives Verhältnis zum Nachbarn rald schrieb: "It is a fact of life that for every Pakistan finden werden. Im April 2009 kam militant thrown out by a madrassa, there are eine afghanisch-pakistanische, aus Parla- dozens who never went anywhere near a mentariern und politischen Spitzenbeamten religious seminary. Instead, they were just bestehende Besuchergruppe auf Einladung plain criminals before they chose to elevate des Auswärtigen Amtes nach Berlin. In ih- themselves to the status of jihadis. Talking ren Ausführungen sprachen Afghanen wie of a crackdown on madrassas may make Pakistaner mehrfach von einer stattfinden- eminent sense to the West but it offers very den neuen Annäherung zwischen beiden little in terms of actually getting a handle on Staaten. Bleibt abzuwarten, ob diesen the problem".3 Worten Taten folgen werden.

Anmerkungen

1 Sushant, Sareen: The Jihad Factory, New Delhi 2 Siehe Daily Times, 15.6.2009. 2005. 3 Siehe Herald, Oktober 2003. Stability in South Asia: a view from China

Liping Xia

1. Introduction 2. The China-India security relationship There are three distinct factors which have a significant influence on stability and security The China-India security relationship has in South Asia. The first concerns relations gone through three major phases: friendship between external major powers and South (from 1949 to the end of the 1950s); oppo- Asian regional powers. During the Cold War, sition (from the early 1960s to the late the Soviet Union supported India, and the 1990s) whereby the progress made between United States and China supported Pakistan. India and China since 1988 was marred by Both sides were engaged in a struggle tension again between the two sides caused against each other. Since the end of the Cold by India's nuclear tests in May 1998. And War, major powers including China and the finally, strategic partnership from 2005 on- US have shared some common interests in wards. the security field of South Asia. They would like to see peace and stability in the region. Since the then Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji It is not in their national interests to use visited India in January 2002 and subse- one country against another in South Asia. quently Indian Prime Minister Shri Atal Bi- Neither is it in their national interests to hari Vajpayee visited China in June 2003, struggle against each other for their strate- both countries have made considerable pro- gic position in South Asia. However, some gress in their political, economic and secu- politicians in the US still want to use India rity relations. After experiences akin to a to balance China. long and winding road, China-India relations have entered a new stage characterized The second factor concerns relations be- by maturity. Both China and India are the tween India and Pakistan. India and Pakistan largest developing countries, and their total fought three wars against each other during population is one-third of the world's popu- the Cold War period. In May 1998, both lation. In order for the two countries to ac- conducted nuclear tests. Since 2005 relations complish their economic and social sustain- between India and Pakistan have improved able development it is therefore critically to some extent, and this has helped to reduce important to maintain peace, stability and the possibility of armed conflict, including prosperity in Asia as well as in the world. nuclear exchanges, between the two coun- At the same time, both countries are rising tries. powers in international affairs and each other's neighbours of considerable size, so The third factor relates to non-governmental they are obliged to view China-India rela- organizations. In South Asia, especially in tions from a strategic perspective and to India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the terrorist make every effort to establish a mutually organization Al-Qaida and extremist groups constructive and cooperative long-term re- such as the Taliban have become a serious lationship. Both China and India have civi- threat to national governments. Other non- lizations of long standing and a unique his- governmental entities such as warlords in tory of their own. The two countries are Afghanistan have also had a serious negative peace-loving and their friendly exchanges impact on national governments. go back to ancient times. Furthermore, both 52 Liping Xia countries are initiators of the Five Principles 3. China's new policy towards of Peaceful Coexistence and share the same neighbouring countries major objectives of realizing their economic and social modernization. So they are able There is a new aspect in China's current for- to overcome the difficulties and obstacles in eign strategy and security policy. Among their relationship. During the visits of Chi- others, it includes the concept of a period of nese Premier Zhu Rongji to India in 2002 important strategic opportunity, and safe- and Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee to guarding the common interests of all man- China in 2003, both countries agreed to kind. The foreign strategy and security pol- strengthen their "long-term constructive icy pursued by the new Chinese leadership partnership", an objective which was put can be analyzed according to the theories of forward by the leaders of the two countries international relations, including interde- during the visit of Chinese President Jiang pendence theory, international regime the- Zemin to India in 1996. ory, geo-economic theory, and cooperation for win-win theory. In fact, China has de- During the visit to India by Chinese Premier veloped those theories into a new rationale. Wen Jibao in April 2005, both countries There are internal factors and external agreed to develop their cooperative partner- factors affecting China's international role. ship into a strategic cooperative partnership. With the integration of China into interna- Development of trade and diplomatic links tional economic and political mechanisms, between the two nations is in the interests of China will continue its responsible role as a both, and contributes to regional and world major power in international affairs in the peace and stability. During the visit, the two next twenty years. governments inked an agreement on the political guiding principles to solve the bor- At present, China has put its relationships der issue. This was the first political docu- with major powers as the first priority of ment to be signed by the two countries since its foreign strategy; its relationships with 1981 when both countries had started nego- neighbouring countries as critically impor- tiations to settle border disputes. According tant to its foreign strategy; and its relation- to the agreement, "the differences on the ships with developing countries as the boundary question should not be allowed to foundation of its foreign strategy. India is a affect the overall development of bilateral rising major power in Asia, a neighbouring relations" and "the two sides will resolve country with China, and one of the biggest the boundary question through peaceful and developing countries. So China has placed friendly consultations. Neither side shall use great importance on its relationship with or threaten to use force against the other by India. any means". India and China will "make meaningful and mutually acceptable adjust- The first two decades of the 21st century are ments to their respective positions on the a period of important strategic opportunity boundary question, so as to arrive at a pack- for China. During this period China will age settlement to the boundary question". focus its attention on an all-out effort to Furthermore, "the boundary settlement must build an affluent society. The objectives of be final, covering all sectors of the China- China's modernization programme are to India boundary". Bilateral "strategic and rea- quadruple the GDP of 2000 by 2020, and to sonable interests, and the principle of mutual become a mid-level developed country by and equal security" will be kept in mind 2050. In order to achieve these objectives, while arriving at a final settlement. The China needs long-term peace and a stable Sino-Indian border has remained tranquil international security environment which with no confrontation since 1993. will further its economic development. Stability in South Asia: a view from China 53

4. China's new concepts of with the new international situation and the foreign strategy interests of the Chinese people as well as mankind's need to seek peace and develop- In the 21st century there are the three major ment. It is China's view that to obtain lasting historical tasks for China: to propel the mod- peace, it is imperative to abandon the Cold ernization drive; to achieve national reunifi- War mentality, cultivate a new concept of cation; and to safeguard world peace and security and seek a new way to safeguard promote common development.1 In order to peace. China holds that countries should accomplish the three major historical tasks, trust one another, work together to maintain China has some new concepts for its foreign security and to resolve disputes through dia- strategy. logue and cooperation, and should not resort to the use or threat of force. It has been proved that the new concepts of security are 4.1 Safeguarding common interests in keeping with current trends and have great vitality. Firstly, China recognizes the necessity to go along with the tide of history and to safe- China holds that the core of the new security guard the common interests of all humanity. concept should be mutual trust, mutual Due to the development of economic glob- benefit, equality and coordination.2 The new alization, the common interests of all man- security concept should also be the guideline kind have become evident. China is ready to to resolve disputes in international security.3 work with the international community to On 7 October 2003, Chinese Premier Wen boost global multi-polarization, promote the Jiabao stressed: "It is China's existing guide- harmonious coexistence of diverse forces, line to advance the vigorous development, and maintain stability in the international peace and stability in Asia. It is an important community. China will continue to improve part of China's development strategy to and develop relations with the developed maintain good relationships with neighbours, countries. Proceeding from the fundamental make them secure and help them to become interests of all countries concerned, China rich". will broaden the converging points of common interests and properly settle differences "To maintain good relationships with neigh- on the basis of the Five Principles of Peace- bours" means that China will carry forward ful Coexistence, notwithstanding the differ- the Chinese philosophy of "making close and ences in social systems and ideologies. friendly relations with neighbours", so that China has been cooperating with the United they can cooperatively establish a stable and States and other countries in anti-terror harmonious structure of relationships be- projects and in dealing with regional secu- tween China and its neighbours under the rity problems, such as the North Korean principle of living in harmony with sur- nuclear crisis. rounding countries. "To make neighbours secure" means that China will vigorously maintain regional peace and stability, and 4.2 Mutual trust, mutual benefit, persist in improving mutual trust through equality and coordination dialogue and cooperation and in resolving disputes though peaceful negotiations, so as Secondly, China stresses a new concept of to construct a peaceful and stable regional security which features mutual trust, mutual environment for the development of Asia." benefit, equality and coordination. Since the To help neighbours to become rich" means end of the Cold War, China has greatly that China will strengthen cooperation of changed its security concepts in accordance mutual benefit with its neighbours, and will 54 Liping Xia

deepen regional and sub-regional coopera- pendence between countries. This transfor- tion in order to realize common development mation will go through a long-term transi- with other Asian countries. tion period during which there will many complex struggles, on a path that will be tortuous. Terrorism has become one of the 4.3 The China-India strategic major threats to mankind and the interna- cooperative partnership tional community during this transformation of the international relations system. Thirdly, China will strengthen the China-In- dia strategic cooperative partnership through mutual trust and a win-win concept. The two 5.1 Non-traditional security threats countries should look on their mutual relations from a strategic perspective, and with The impact of non-traditional security threats long-term views. Both should recognize the on international relations has been rapidly long-term and fundamental common inter- increasing. Non-traditional security threats ests between them. They should continue to can also be described as global problems, use the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexis- transnational problems or low politics prob- tence as the guidelines to guide China-India lems. They include terrorism, environmental relations. The two countries should resolve pollution, global warming, population explo- their border disputes in a spirit of mutual co- sion, drug trafficking, international crime, ordination as well as mutual understanding HIV/AIDS. Non-traditional security threats and accommodation through negotiations. have two major characteristics: they are pre- The China-India agreement on political sent everywhere in the world and as such guiding principles on solving the border is- concern all mankind; and they threaten the sue will help the special representatives of existence and development of all human the two governments negotiate territorial beings. claims as experts delineate the boundary on a map and on the ground. Security problems can be transformed into non-traditional security problems, and non- The two countries should further strengthen traditional security problems can lead to tra- the dialogue on strategic and security issues ditional armed conflicts. Furthermore, tra- between them. They should further enhance ditional security threats and non-traditional defense exchanges and confidence-building security threats can be interwoven with each measures between the two militaries so as other and mutate from one to the other. For to improve mutual trust. They should also example, weapons of mass destruction are increase mutual economic and trade coop- traditional security problems. However, if eration so as to strengthen the foundation of terrorists have such weapons, this becomes the China-India relationship. a non-traditional security threat and a transnational problem. Another example is that cross-boundary attacks by terrorists are non- 5. Terrorism as one of the major traditional security threats, which may lead threats to South Asia to traditional armed conflicts.

Since the end of the Cold War, and espe- As a result of the large-scale Cold War arms cially since the 9/11 events, the system of race between the two superpowers, the international relations has been undergoing United States and the former Soviet Union; transformation from one of balance of power of long-term exploitation and ignorance to- in international anarchy to a new one wards developing nations by developed na- mainly characterized by mutual interde- tions; and as a result of human greed, non- Stability in South Asia: a view from China 55 traditional security threats have increased in 6. Anti-terror war launched by the recent years and have more and more im- United States pact. That has greatly increased the common interests of all countries in the world, In line with the military concept of Revolu- and made countries more inclined to coop- tion in Military Affairs (RMA), the Ad- erate in order to deal with and resolve those ministration of George W. Bush which as- problems. With the growing impact of non- sumed power in January 2001 intended to traditional security threats on international strengthen the absolute superiority of the relations and the growth of common inter- US military, to realize absolute security for ests between countries, it is necessary for the United States, and to further consolidate countries, especially the major powers, to its leadership in the world through making resolve disputes between them through con- use of US high-tech military superiority. sultation and coordination, and to cooperate to deal with non-traditional security threats. The 9/11 incident was the first time since it had become a superpower that the United States suffered such a heavy loss from an 5.2 The role of non-state elements external attack on the American mainland. Under those circumstances, the United Terrorism as one of the non-state elements States regarded anti-terrorism as the high- is being increasingly implicated in interna- est priority of its national security strategy tional relations. Non-state actors include ter- and began the anti-terror war. At the same rorist organizations, transnational companies, time, the Pentagon began to make signifi- non-governmental organizations, multilateral cant readjustments to its defense strategy. organizations. In recent years, non-state actors have become important actors in inter- One important characteristic of the read- national relations. Some non-state actors justment of US defense strategy is to stress now have even the same amount of capital that the US military should shift from a and means as states do. There are large "threats-based approach" to a "capabilities- transnational companies which have more based" approach. The Pentagon holds that capital than medium-sized or small states. In concept since it reflects the fact that the international society, there are many kinds of United States cannot know with confidence non-governmental organizations which play what nation, combination of nations, or a spectacular role in international relations non-state actor will pose threats to vital US and international politics. Since the end of interests or those of US allies and friends the Cold War, terrorist organizations and decades from now. So the Bush Admini- their actions have developed and become the stration has given up the guideline of new threat to human society. The 9/11 inci- military strategy to "prepare for winning dent is the most glaring example. Although two major theatre wars" and has asked US terrorism has been around for ages, global forces to have military capabilities to deal terrorism is a relatively new phenomenon. with different situations in this century. An- Transnational and multiethnic, it is interna- other important characteristic of the read- tional in scope, with terrorists representing justment of US defense strategy is the pro- all walks of life, poor to rich, third world to posal of the strategic concept of "pre- first world, illiterate to educated. Ironically, emptive attacks". In the Nuclear Posture the same mechanisms that have fuelled Review report presented by the Pentagon in economic globalization have also enabled January 2001, the US Department of De- terrorism on a global scale. Those non-state fense even holds that nuclear weapons can actors have a very significant impact on in- be used to attack targets which are able to ternational relations. sustain attacks by conventional weapons. 56 Liping Xia

The third important characteristic of the re- WMDs found in Iraq, the US and the UK adjustment of US defense strategy is to re- had to face increasing suspicions about their gard homeland security as the foundation of rationale for the war. Although there was a US defense strategy. In order to win the war general election in Iraq in January 2005, on terror and to develop future capabilities, there have been frequent attacks from both the Pentagon is speeding up the development terrorists and anti-American resistance of high-tech weapons, including Missile De- against both US forces and Iraqi police, of- fense, weapons to be used in space, capabili- ficials and civilians. Many terrorists have ties for persistent surveillance, tracking, and come to Iraq from all over the world and are rapid engagement. However, the new US de- using Iraq as their training centre. Further- fense strategy still has a lot of the Cold War more, terrorists also struck Western targets mentality. For example, in the annual de- in Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey, Russia, Mo- fense report to the US President and Con- rocco, Egypt, Pakistan, London, and so on. gress put forward by US DoD in August 2002, the Pentagon claims that a military In May 2003, the US launched the Prolifera- competitor with a significant source base tion Security Initiative (PSI), expressing its may appear in Asia in the future. In order to readiness to carry out sea or air interceptions deal with this, the United States will take with willing allies against ships and aircraft some measures to strengthen its military suspected of transporting nuclear, biological presence in East Asia, including among and chemical weapons and their compo- others deployment of another aircraft car- nents. PSI received support from Australia, rier, and submarines with cruise missiles. Japan, the European countries, and some other countries. The terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on 11 September 2001 marked the beginning of a new era in the 7. China’s policy towards terrorism fight against global terrorism. US President and the war on terror George W. Bush declared war against terrorism, dictating a strategic shift of the US 7.1 International cooperation from diplomatic and police action to war. On against terrorism. 7 October 2001, the United States launched military attacks against the Taliban and Al- China has been actively participating in Qaida in Afghanistan. U.S forces defeated international cooperation against terrorism. them, but have still not captured Osama During the Anti-terrorism Meeting of For- bin Laden. Al-Qaida remnants still exist. eign Ministers of the UN Security Council held on 20 January 2003, Chinese Foreign In 2003, following its 2002 release of the Minister Tang Jiaxuan put forward a four- National Security Strategy, the US pub- point proposal for extending the war on ter- lished the National Strategy for Combating ror. First, with peace and security for all Terrorism, National Strategy to Secure Cy- mankind as the central theme of counter- berspace and National Strategy for Physical terrorism, efforts should be made to culti- Protection of Critical Infrastructure and Key vate a new security concept featuring mu- Assets, in order to flesh out its new national tual trust, mutual benefit, equality and co- security strategy aimed at counter-terrorism, operation and to resolve or mitigate such non-proliferation and homeland security. As regional hotspots as the Middle East and the first step in carrying out the new strat- Iraq. Second, with universal development egy, the US waged a preemptive war against and common prosperity as the foundation of Iraq in March 2003 on grounds that Iraq counter-terrorism, efforts should be made to had weapons of mass destruction. With no promote the economic development of all Stability in South Asia: a view from China 57

countries, to narrow the wealth gap and at- 7.4 Regional cooperation against tain the development goals laid down by the terrorism UN Millennium Summit. Third, with closer communication among and integration of China has continued to take an active part in different civilizations as the safeguard of regional or sub-regional cooperation against counter-terrorism, efforts should be made terrorism. The Shanghai Cooperation Or- to promote understanding and tolerance ganization has developed into an important among diverse civilizations and cultures. mechanism to promote regional security, Fourth, with stronger exchange and coop- stability and development. In 2003, China eration as the key to counter-terrorism, ef- participated in joint military exercises under forts should be made to give scope to the the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation leading role of the UN and help developing Organization (SCO), a move that signifi- countries build up their capacity in compli- cantly deterred the terrorist forces operating ance with the purposes and principles of the at home and abroad. In September 2003, the UN Charter.4 Foreign Ministers of six member countries of the SCO signed the Shanghai Convention on Combating Terrorism, Separatism and 7.2 The role of the UN Extremism and the Agreement Between the SCO Member Countries Concerning the China has supported the leading role played Regional Counter-Terrorism Agency. In by the United Nations and its Security 2003, the Chinese side also participated in Council in counter-terrorism and opposing the meeting of the attorney-general and the terrorism in all its forms and manifestation. first meeting of the Council of the Regional China has actively taken part in counter- Counter-Terrorism Agency of the SCO, terrorism discussions at the UN and its Se- playing an important role in guiding and curity Council. China voted in favour of Se- strengthening the cooperation of the or- curity Council Resolutions 1456, 1465 and ganization. In January 2004, the SCO Sec- 1561 on counter-terrorism, and worked ear- retariat and the SCO Regional Counter- nestly with the Counter-Terrorism Com- Terrorism Agency were formally inaugu- mittee of the Council. rated in Beijing and Tashkent respectively. In June 2004, during the Summit Meeting of the SCO in Tashkent, leaders of member 7.3 Opposition to all forms of terrorism countries of the SCO signed the Agreement on cooperation against the illegal transpor- China opposes all forms of terrorism. China's tation of narcotic drugs, mind-altering drugs position also includes: a comprehensive ap- and their component materials. The SCO proach to address both the symptoms and also established a mechanism of regular root causes of terrorism, enhanced capacity- meetings of Secretaries of National Security building of developing countries against ter- Councils of member countries, so they can rorism, and rejection of double standards strengthen their security cooperation. and the simplistic practice of linking terrorism with specific countries, ethnicities and In September 2004, the Chinese Ambassador religions. China also holds that the fight to Portugal Ma Enhan as the representative against the East Turkistan terrorist forces of the SCO attended the second meeting of was part and parcel of the worldwide cam- the OSCE in Lisbon on preventing and com- paign against terror, and China stood ready bating terrorism. Ambassador Ma briefed the to step up its cooperation with the relevant meeting on the principled positions of the countries on this front in the interest of re- SCO on preventing and combating terrorism gional peace and stability. and the concrete actions it had taken, and ex- 58 Liping Xia

changed views with the Organization of Se- In order to help the Afghan people rebuild curity and Cooperation in Europe and other the country after the war, China has taken an international organizations on anti-terrorism active part in Afghanistan's post-war recon- cooperation. struction. The Chinese Government seri- ously honoured its January 2002 pledge of US$ 150 million aid. During the visit of Af- 7.5 Bilateral cooperation against terrorism ghanistan's Vice-President Nimatullah Shah- rani to China in May 2003, China announced China has continued to deepen bilateral co- its provision of a US$ 15 million grant to operation against terrorism with the relevant Afghanistan and US$ 1 million cash to the countries. In 2004, China held the fourth Afghan Reconstruction Fund. In August counter-terrorism consultation with the US 2003, the Chinese side officially handed over and the third consultation of the China-US its donation of 80,000 pieces of office appli- working group on financial anti-terrorism. In ances to the Afghan Transitional Govern- July 2003, the customs authorities of China ment. By now, the construction of the Chi- and the US signed the bilateral declaration nese-assisted Republic Hospital in Kabul and on the principles of Container Security Ini- the preliminary preparations for the Parwan tiatives (CSI) cooperation and the annexes in Irrigation Project have been completed. In Beijing, which opened a new area of China- addition, China made vigorous efforts to US cooperation against terrorism. In addition, expand its mutually beneficial economic China held the third counter-terrorism cooperation and trade with Afghanistan in dialogue with India and conducted counter- telecommunications, building materials, terrorism consultation with Germany in 2003. electrical appliances, and other fields.

Following the signing of the Shanghai Con- China is also helping the Iraqi people recon- vention on Combating Terrorism, Separatism struct the country after the Iraq War. In Oc- and Extremism (or the Shanghai Convention tober 2003, Chinese Assistant Foreign Min- for short) by the Foreign Ministers of six ister Shen Guofang led a delegation to the member countries of the Shanghai Coopera- Conference of Donating Countries for Iraqi tion Organization (SCO) in September 2003, Reconstruction held by the United Nations in China began to negotiate and conclude bilat- Madrid, Spain. During the conference, the eral agreements on combating terrorism, Chinese Government announced that China separatism and extremism (or "agreement would provide US$ 25 million worth of hu- against the three forces" for short) with other manitarian aid to Iraq for its reconstruction. member states of SCO in an effort to imple- In 2004, the Chinese Government declared ment the Shanghai Convention, build a net- that it would provide training to attorneys work of legal cooperation against the three for Iraq. forces and foster closer cooperation within the SCO. The China-Tajikistan agreement against the three forces and that between 8. Strengthening international China and Uzbekistan were signed on 2 and cooperation against terrorism 4 September 2003 respectively. The Stand- ing Committee of the National People's 8.1 The leading role of the UN Congress (NPC) of China ratified the China- Kazakhstan and China-Kyrgyzstan agree- It is important to find a way to facilitate the ments against the three forces on 26 and leading role of the UN and its Security 27 August 2003 respectively. The agreement Council in the international cooperation between China and Kazakhstan on the issue against terrorism. The United Nations has entered into force on 3 July 2003. been playing an important role in the anti- Stability in South Asia: a view from China 59

terror campaign. Almost all countries interests and cooperation between countries have commended the important role of the towards non-traditional security threats, in- United Nations in coordinating international cluding terrorism, environmental pollution, counter-terrorism cooperation, and have drug trafficking, transnational crimes, spoken highly of the work of the Security HIV/AIDS, SARS, bird flu, and so on, have Council Terrorism Committee. Most coun- been increasing, so that they will seek to re- tries emphasized that international counter- solve traditional security problems more terrorism operations must comply with the through dialogue and negotiations. The main purposes and principles of the UN Charter objectives of most countries will be the de- and other norms of international law, and velopment of their economy, society, science efforts should be made to address both and technology. The mutual interdependence symptoms and root causes of terrorism. On and cooperation between major powers will the definition of terrorism, the Islamic and continue to increase, so they will make great non-aligned countries continued to under- efforts to avoid armed conflicts between score the justice and legitimacy of national them. The process of establishing and de- liberation movements against foreign occu- veloping international and regional mecha- pation and to call for sanctions against acts nisms of security cooperation and dialogue of state terrorism according to the relevant will continue, so that in many regions and conventions and international law. sub-regions, co-existing multi-level, multi- channel and multi-type mechanisms of se- Under the framework of the UN, the discus- curity can be formed. Those international, sions of the Sixth Committee on the Draft regional and sub-regional mechanisms of Comprehensive Convention on International security cooperation will become the im- Terrorism, the Draft Convention on the Sup- portant parts of the future system of inter- pression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism and national relations mainly characterized by the Convocation of a high-level conference mutual interdependence between countries. on preventing and combating terrorism have been continuing, but have made little prog- Cooperation between major powers has been ress. The delegations remained divided on increasing, but competition among them the major outstanding issues, such as the has been more complicated. Since the 9/11 definition of terrorism, the scope of applica- events, the US has regarded the war against tion of the conventions, the legitimacy of the terrorism as the highest priority on its use of nuclear weapons by a state, the activi- agenda. In order to realize the goal of anti- ties of armed forces, and the relations be- terrorism, it has to strengthen cooperation tween the comprehensive and sectoral con- with other powers, including China, and ventions. The Chinese delegation expressed hopes to have stable Sino-US relations. its support for India's drafting of a Compre- hensive Convention on International Terror- ism and Russia's drafting of a Convention on 8.3 A new concept of security the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terror- ism, and believed that the draft conventions, At present there is competition between the once adopted, add to the international legal new security concepts and the Cold War framework on counter-terrorism. mentality. On the one hand, some new security concepts including cooperative security, coordinated security, and common security 8.2 Multilateral cooperation have been put forward. On the other hand, the Cold War mentality of "zero sum Multilateral cooperation in the anti-terror games" theory, balance of power, geopoli- campaign should be enhanced. The common tics, still exists. In many countries there is a 60 Liping Xia

the struggle between new security concepts tries should make the greatest effort to seek and the Cold War mentality. If countries, settlement of differences and disputes among especially major powers, can see the world nations through peaceful means. through new security concepts and cooperate to deal with non-traditional security threats such as terrorism they can have a 9. A possible alliance of the United win-win or a win-win-win situation be- States, Japan, Australia and India tween them. Otherwise, they will all lose. A number of security specialists have con- In order to effectively counter terrorism, cluded that the United States, Japan, Austra- countries should abandon the Cold War lia and India are well on their way to form- mentality and adopt some new concepts ing a military alliance, the heart of which about global security. This would include the represents a NATO-styled organization in concept of "mutual security". During the Asia. Evidence to this effect can be induced Cold War, the concept of "zero sum game" from the naval wargames recently held in the had played a crucial role in international Bay of Bengal. The atmospherics originating politics. After the end of the Cold War, from the leadership of the said countries also countries should accept the concept of "mu- suggest a new alliance of sorts. US Vice- tual security" because of the changed situa- President Richard B. Cheney on a recent tion. We should oppose any country which visit to Japan contended that the United builds its own absolute security upon the in- States, Japan and Australia should establish security of others. According to the concept, trilateral defense relations. Former Japanese nuclear powers, especially two nuclear su- Prime Minister Abe Shinzo put forward a perpowers, should speed up their process proposal that the United States, Japan, of nuclear disarmament. Australia and India should form an alliance based on "common values". In May 2007 the The new concept of security would also in- foreign ministers of the four countries held a clude the concept of cooperation. At present, meeting in Manila and decided to proceed all countries are facing many common with the decision to stage the Malabar series problems or transnational problems, such as of naval exercises., The United States, Japan terrorism, environmental problems, green- and Australia held their first strategic dia- house effect, drug trafficking, proliferation logue in Sydney on 8 September 2007, right of weapons of mass destruction and so on. in the middle of the same exercises. They should make common efforts and cooperate to deal with the challenges. Espe- These more recent developments have coin- cially, they should pay more attention to cided with a rise in regionalization trends in nuclear non-proliferation, because nuclear East Asia over the last decade or so. This ex- proliferation is still hanging like the sword pansion has lead to more economic and secu- of Damocles above mankind and has never rity-related interdependence between coun- ceased to threaten the survival of humanity. tries in the region, underpinning the pillars of regional security and stability. With this re- The emphasis should be changed from em- gionalism, the scope of security has been phasis on military security to emphasis on enlarged to encompass not only military is- comprehensive security. Although after the sues, but also those related to politics, eco- end of the Cold War, geopolitical, military nomics, finance, science and technology, security and ideological factors still play an culture, and so on. important role that cannot be ignored, economic factors are becoming far more rele- The common interests of countries in the vant in international politics. So all coun- region have greatly increased, and interde- Stability in South Asia: a view from China 61

pendence best defines the many relationships the landscape instead of cooperation. Inter- between them. Military means present less of national terrorist organizations such as Al- an option in East Asia and are no longer suf- Qaida will likely relish such an eventuality. ficient to deal with the variety of security challenges that are envisioned over the hori- Secondly, the development of a "gang of zon. Such a state of affairs will necessitate democracies" will reek of discrimination, the development of new means and concepts especially when juxtaposed against many to maintain stability and peace. These new developing countries. This will inevitably developments require a move away from the undermine the concept of sovereignty, at traditional concepts of national security to least according to the principles of the UN a more comprehensive and cooperative ap- Charter. It will produce more failed or failing proach. states, which will become hothouses for terrorists. During recent years, regional institutions of economic and security cooperation and dia- Thirdly, the development of any democratic logue have made significant progress in East axis will slow down the process of moderni- Asia. These include the Association of zation and democracy within developing Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), ASEAN countries. With many developing countries Plus Three (ASEAN+3), the East Asian suffering from the pains associated with de- Summit (EAS), ASEAN Plus One mocratization, it is likely to take a considera- (ASEAN+1), the ASEAN Regional Forum bly long time before such countries develop (ARF), the Asia-Pacific Economic Coopera- their own systems of democracy that reso- tion (APEC), the six-party talks on North nate according to their own situation. Korean nuclear issues, and so on. These regional institutions are playing an increas- Regardless of the implications of this alli- ingly important role in the economic and ance of democracies, the Malabar 2007 na- security fields in Asia. However, the amount val exercises have sent a message to China. of traction a potential multilateral alliance The area where the naval exercises were based on "common values" or a concert of held is of strategic importance for China, democracies in Asia is likely to have is lim- representing the critical sea lanes through ited, and likely to have a very negative im- which half of its imported oil transits. In pact on regional security. addition, some Chinese security analysts are concerned that the four countries, namely Firstly, such an alliance would inevitably the United States, India, Japan and Austra- divide the region. Since the end of the Cold lia, have indeed formed a multilateral alli- War, the trend of regional economic inte- ance that ultimately works to restrict China. gration has grown rapidly and represents a highly successful means by which to main- In June 2007, China had issued a démarche tain regional stability. Although the United to India, the US, Japan and Australia in Nations system that grew out of the Second which it sought details about their four- World War should be reformed, the current nation meeting, termed a Quadrilateral international system based on sovereign Initiative. India and Australia moved to states remains a fundamental pillar that quickly assure Beijing that security and de- should not be overridden by military alli- fense issues did not form part of that meet- ances that presuppose a superiority of sorts. ing's agenda. On 23 August 2007, slightly If a concert of democracy is established, the over a week before the Malabar 2007 naval world as well as the East Asian region will exercises, Admiral Timothy J. Keating, be split two ways, with conflict dominating Commander of the US Pacific Command, 62 Liping Xia

declared that the exercises were conducted The "New Security Concepts" should be- not to isolate China or to push it into a cor- come the theoretic foundation for establish- ner. He reiterated that he was interested in ing the regional security architecture in the engaging China and would seek to avoid 21st century. China would like to accelerate any misunderstanding. Most Chinese would mutual trust through dialogue and to spur like to believe what the Admiral said. How- common security initiatives through coop- ever, the US should understand that the eration with the US and other countries. proof of the pudding has not been made ap- China understands that the only way to en- parent to China. In recent years, China has sure the integrity of its sea lanes in the Indian held that traditional concepts of security Ocean and the Straits of Malacca is to coop- were outmoded and that new concepts were erate with the US and other countries – the necessary. Thus China advocated the "New purpose of which is to build a harmonious Security Concepts" which regard mutual and stable Asia-Pacific region which is based trust, mutual benefit, equality, and coordi- on mutual trust and benefit for the common nation as its raison d'état. interests of all countries in the region.

Notes

1 Documents of the 16th National Congress of Begawan, the capital of Brunei, on 31.7.2002 the Communist Party of China [Zhongguo Beijing, China: People’s Daily, 2.8.2002, p.3. Gongchandang Dishiliuci Quanguodabiao Da- 3 Chinese Ambassador of Disarmament Hu hui Wenjian Huibian], Beijing, China: Foreign Xiaodi's Speech at the Conference on Disarma- Language press, 2002, p.2. ment in Geneva, on 7.2.2002, Beijing, China: 2 China's Document about the Position of the People's Daily, 3.2.2002. New Security Concept [Zhongguo Guanyu Xin 4 Department of Policy Planning of Ministry of Anquanguan Lichang De Wenjian], put forward Foreign Affairs of People's Republic China, by the Chinese Delegation at the meeting of China's Foreign Affairs: 2004 Edition, World ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), held in Seri Affairs Press, Beijing, May 2004, pp.340-341. List of authors

Anand, Vinod Roul, Animesh Brig. Gen. (ret.), Centre for Strategic Studies & Executive Director, Society for the Study of Simulation; Senior Fellow at United Service Peace & Conflict, New Delhi Institution of India, New Delhi Wieck, Hans-Georg, Dr. Chandler, Michael Ambassador (ret.), Berlin International Consultant on Terrorism and Security, Freiburg/Elbe Xia, Liping, Prof. Dean and Professor of School of Political Kiessling, Hein G., Dr. Science & International Relations, Tongji Consultant on Pakistan, political scientist, University, Shanghai; General-Secretary of Munich Shanghai Institute for International Strategic Studies (SIISS) Lange, Klaus, Prof. Dr. Desk of International Security, Academy for Politics and Current Affairs, Hanns Seidel Foundation, Munich Editor of Publications Series: Prof. Dr. Reinhard Meier-Walser Head of the Academy for Politics and Current Affairs, Hanns Seidel Foundation, Munich, Germany

Editor: Prof. Dr. Klaus Lange Desk of International Security, Academy for Politics and Current Affairs, Hanns Seidel Foundation, Munich "Studies & Comments"

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No. 3 Integrating Regional and Global Security Cooperation

No. 4 India's New Dynamics in Foreign Policy

No. 5 International Labour Standards and the Social Dimension of Open Trading Regimes

No. 6 European-Chinese Security Cooperation: Possibilities and Limits

No. 7 European and Transatlantic Armaments Cooperation

No. 8 Interventions for the Best Interest of the Child in Family Law Procedures Interventionen zum Kindeswohl

No. 9 Security in South Asia: Conventional and Unconventional Factors of Destabilization