Terrorists may be using Pak sats to plot against India
8 Jul 2009, 0032 hrs IST, Diwakar, TNN
Source: TOI
ROME: Fresh evidence of continued collusion of Pakistan's official agencies with terrorist groups plotting attacks on India has cast a shadow on
resumption of full-scale talks between the estranged neighbours.
According to sources, state actors in Pakistan were seeking to help terrorist groups using Thuraya satellite phones to plot attacks on India by camouflaging the location of the phones.
The deception game, spoofing in intelligence parlance, involves setting up transmitters near the terrorist bases to block the signals from Thuraya sets which can help pinpoint location of the users. The transmitters cannot be set up or remain hidden to Pakistan's own agencies.
The finding shows Pakistan has failed to meet the condition set by India — credible steps to punish those responsible for the Mumbai terror attack and to destroy terrorist infrastrucuture — for the resumption of the composite dialogue.
Thuraya phones are preferred by anti-India terror groups because they are not licenced to be sold in the country and, therefore, their logs cannot be readily accessed by its agencies.
During the investigation into the 26/11 attack, India got around the problem with US help to get details of satellite phones used by the perpetrators of the atrocities — LeT's Zakiur Rahman Lakhvi and others. The Americans had then used their leverage with UAE authorities to help India procure logs of the satellite phones, stored at Thuraya's Master Control Facility at Sharjah, to establish the presence of the terror masterminds on Pakistani soil.
The use of transmitters will, however, render a repeat of the success impossible, helping terrorists to mask their footprints, and Pakistan to profess innocence. The determination comes at a time when India faces the most serious threat in two years, and can set back prospects of the restoration of the composite dialogue process between India and Pakistan.
Pakistan has been pressing for resumption of full-fledged dialogue which was paused exactly one year ago after the attack on Indian embassy in Kabul.
It is likely to make a strong pitch for this when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh meets his Pakistani counterpart Yusuf Raza Gilani on July 16 on the sidelines of the NAM summit in Egypt.
India insists that Pakistan must bring the 26/11 plotters to justice and take credible steps to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism on its soil as the pre-condition for the revival of the dialogue process. It refuses to discuss anything else with Pakistan till the latter complies. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh put across the bottomline dramatically and in public to Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in Russia last month.
But the spoofing points to Pakistan’s continuing reluctance to proceed against terrorist groups targeting India from its soil.
Sources said that India will repeat its stance in no uncertain terms, without getting distracted by the fact that Pakistan is busy beating back the challenge from Taliban. Pakistan cannot be allowed to use its problem as an excuse for inaction against terrorism directed against India. Rather, it should demonstrate the same toughness against anti-India groups that it has lately shown against the Taliban, sources contended.
Source: TOI
ROME: Fresh evidence of continued collusion of Pakistan's official agencies with terrorist groups plotting attacks on India has cast a shadow on
resumption of full-scale talks between the estranged neighbours.
According to sources, state actors in Pakistan were seeking to help terrorist groups using Thuraya satellite phones to plot attacks on India by camouflaging the location of the phones.
The deception game, spoofing in intelligence parlance, involves setting up transmitters near the terrorist bases to block the signals from Thuraya sets which can help pinpoint location of the users. The transmitters cannot be set up or remain hidden to Pakistan's own agencies.
The finding shows Pakistan has failed to meet the condition set by India — credible steps to punish those responsible for the Mumbai terror attack and to destroy terrorist infrastrucuture — for the resumption of the composite dialogue.
Thuraya phones are preferred by anti-India terror groups because they are not licenced to be sold in the country and, therefore, their logs cannot be readily accessed by its agencies.
During the investigation into the 26/11 attack, India got around the problem with US help to get details of satellite phones used by the perpetrators of the atrocities — LeT's Zakiur Rahman Lakhvi and others. The Americans had then used their leverage with UAE authorities to help India procure logs of the satellite phones, stored at Thuraya's Master Control Facility at Sharjah, to establish the presence of the terror masterminds on Pakistani soil.
The use of transmitters will, however, render a repeat of the success impossible, helping terrorists to mask their footprints, and Pakistan to profess innocence. The determination comes at a time when India faces the most serious threat in two years, and can set back prospects of the restoration of the composite dialogue process between India and Pakistan.
Pakistan has been pressing for resumption of full-fledged dialogue which was paused exactly one year ago after the attack on Indian embassy in Kabul.
It is likely to make a strong pitch for this when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh meets his Pakistani counterpart Yusuf Raza Gilani on July 16 on the sidelines of the NAM summit in Egypt.
India insists that Pakistan must bring the 26/11 plotters to justice and take credible steps to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism on its soil as the pre-condition for the revival of the dialogue process. It refuses to discuss anything else with Pakistan till the latter complies. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh put across the bottomline dramatically and in public to Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in Russia last month.
But the spoofing points to Pakistan’s continuing reluctance to proceed against terrorist groups targeting India from its soil.
Sources said that India will repeat its stance in no uncertain terms, without getting distracted by the fact that Pakistan is busy beating back the challenge from Taliban. Pakistan cannot be allowed to use its problem as an excuse for inaction against terrorism directed against India. Rather, it should demonstrate the same toughness against anti-India groups that it has lately shown against the Taliban, sources contended.
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