INDIA MISSED CHANCE TO ELIMINATE 26/11 MASTERMINDS

Top intelligence official reveals India had clearance to strike Pakistan's terror leadership.

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA

A top intelligence official who was part of India’s assessment team evaluating possible responses after Pakistan staged the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks has said that New Delhi missed a rare operational window to eliminate the top Pakistan-based terror leadership, even as domestic intelligence evaluations had concluded that Islamabad was in no position to wage a full-scale war and was willing to “sacrifice” the leadership of Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba to avoid escalation.

The official said Indian intelligence agencies had given complete operational clearance and conveyed that the threat of escalation from Pakistan's side was extremely low.

“We gave the entire clearance from our side. We provided the necessary inputs that we are required to gather. As per our assessment, based on high-grade human intelligence, Pakistan was not prepared militarily, resourcefully or financially—for a conventional conflict. They were mentally prepared for an Indian retaliation and wanted to avoid a war.”

According to the official, high-grade human intelligence had confirmed Pakistan’s military, financial and diplomatic weakness. New Delhi, he said, had full operational clearance to act, with assessments indicating that Islamabad was bracing for limited retaliation—not escalation.

According to him, Pakistan’s own internal assessment, picked up through secure and proven channels, reflected a willingness to absorb limited damage in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attack rather than risk full confrontation. “They were ready to take some damage in the wake of Mumbai. They wanted India, if it must, to take out the terror leadership—not to go into a full-blown confrontation.”