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In the wake of the brutal terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu & Kashmir, which has left over two dozen innocent civilians dead, former RAW officer NK Sood has come out with a scathing assessment, holding the Pakistan Army directly responsible. In an exclusive interview on NewsX, Sood described the assault as one of the worst in recent memory and said it was clearly meant to disrupt peace in Kashmir and destabilize India.
“This is not just a random act of terror. The main purpose of the attack is the statement made by Pakistan army chief Aim Munir. It is a basic balance. It is a basic purpose of the attack. He started targeting Hindus and he tried to promote as the Muslims are superior. So after that this attack came and in this attack only specially the Hindus were targeted selectively they were targeted,” Sood said.
“Pakistan Wants to Tell the World Kashmir Is Not Peaceful”
Sood argued that the attack was a multi-pronged effort by Pakistan to derail India’s progress in Kashmir and to shift focus away from its internal failures.
“They want to destabilize India—that is Pakistan’s policy for years—and second purpose is that they want to disturb Kashmir’s peace and they want to tell the world that Kashmir is not a peaceful place. And they also want to tell the Pakistanis that there is disturbance in Kashmir… because in Pakistan there has been lot of noise that lot of development is taking place in Kashmir. Kashmir is booming and people in Pakistan, they are dying of hunger,” he said.
According to him, this was also a message to Kashmiris—one that intended to create fear.
“For the First Time, All Kashmiris Are United Against This”
Interestingly, Sood noted that despite the tragic loss of life, the attack had united the people of Kashmir like never before.
“This terrorist action in Kashmir… it has brought all the Kashmiris together whether it is Omar Abdullah, whether it is Mufti or whether the Kashmiris are there,” he said. Drawing from his own recent travel to the region, Sood painted a picture of a peaceful, hospitable, and developing Kashmir.
“I had been to Kashmir. I went to Kashmir last year with family and I saw the development there. I talked to the people… they loved Indians. They didn’t hate Indians… people were roaming around freely. They welcomed all the people,” he said.
He described Pahalgam, the site of the attack, as a particularly peaceful place where the lack of police presence made it a target. “They selectively chose this place where there’s no police because you can’t put all the police at all the places,” he added.
“This Is Not Like 26/11 – India Is Responding Swiftly”
Sood contrasted the current government’s response with that during the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, pointing to rapid mobilization and decisive leadership.
“Our agencies are very active. If you compare it with 26/11—for 48 hours there was no action taken… no defense minister gave any statement, our home minister didn’t go there, PM didn’t speak anything,” he recalled.
“But now… our home minister is on the spot. PM Modi who had gone to Saudi Arabia returned back… special meeting is being held with top intelligence officers… our defense minister is holding special meetings with all the three armed forces chiefs,” he said.
“Not Just Militants – Target the Pakistan Army”
However, Sood said that neutralizing individual terrorists was not enough. He called for a deeper response targeting the roots of terror—Pakistan’s military and intelligence apparatus.
“What action should be taken against Pakistan? Because it is not the Pakistani militants who are doing it, it’s the Pakistan Army, it’s the Pakistan establishment who is doing it,” he stressed.
“I don’t say that you go for war against Pakistan, but there’s no use of peace at the border when Pakistan is exploiting the peace… to send militants into India.”
“We Must Break Pakistan’s Back”
Calling out Pakistan’s economic vulnerabilities, Sood outlined how India’s strength could be strategically used.
“Pakistan’s economy is $70 billion. Our remittance is $139 billion. Pakistan’s defense budget is $10 billion. Ours is $70 billion, and we are spending $20 billion per year in modernizing,” he said.
“So we have to look into this aspect—how we can break Pakistan’s back, how we can break Pakistan Army’s back—that should be the main motive,” he asserted.
He urged India’s intelligence agencies to step up covert operations: “Unknown gunmen are killing militants in Pakistan. I think that aspect should be doubled or tripled… if Pakistan can send militants into India and kill our innocent civilians, why can’t we send our people to kill militants inside Pakistan?”
“We Can’t Guard Every Border—So Hit Where It Hurts”
Addressing calls for heightened security deployment, Sood said increasing military numbers wasn’t the solution.
“We have an army of 13 lakhs. On the one hand China is there… on the other hand Pakistan is there… then third enemy has also grown up—that is Bangladesh,” he explained.
“We cannot increase our army from 13 lakhs to 26 lakhs… guarding our borders all the time is not possible,” he said, adding that the focus should be on strategic strikes and intelligence-based operations.
“Support Balochistan Liberation – As PM Modi Once Said”
In a final note, Sood said India should openly support movements like the Balochistan independence effort to weaken Pakistan from within.
“Why don’t we support them openly? Even PM Modi had said—on 15th August 2015 he had openly said that Balochistan should be liberated. Now liberate that. If we liberate Balochistan, everything will be okay for us. Pakistan will break up. We’ll get PoK and Pakistan’s army—that will be neutralized indirectly,” he concluded.
