India Should Have Split Pak Long Ago: M.K. Narayanan

India missed a critical opportunity to "split West Pakistan" after both the 1965 and 1971 wars, says former National Security Adviser (NSA) M.K. Narayanan.

- SUPROTIM MUKHERJEE

"Now it is difficult for India to defeat terrorism without eliminating the terrorist state," he told The Sunday Guardian.

"Both in 1965 and 1971, we made one serious mistake. We did not split Pakistan and divide it into a set of principalities, which is what Pakistan essentially is today," Narayanan said, referring to insurgencies in the Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.

He added that after the 1971 war and the creation of Bangladesh from what was East Pakistan, India had hoped Pakistan would have "learned a lesson."

Narayanan, known as a hardliner on Pakistan during the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government and who served as NSA from 2005 to 2010, said intelligence officials should have been better prepared for the current conflict that began with the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, especially following a speech by Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir a week earlier.

"In his address to Pakistani lawmakers, General Munir emphasised religious differences as irreconcilable and revived the 'two-nation theory,' Narayanan said.

"He said, 'Our religion is different, our customs are different, and our traditions are different.' He poses a direct threat to us. Pakistan is an implacable foe. No lasting peace is possible in the region. The army chief, who is the de facto leader of Pakistan, has made his position unmistakably clear. We cannot lower our guard."