India Gives Pak Proof On Uri Attack, Names Terrorist, Handlers And Guides

New Delhi: Proof that the terrorists who attacked an army base in Uri came over from Pakistan was presented today in Delhi to Pakistani envoy Abdul Basit. The government said that two men arrested with the help of villagers have said they belong to Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir and served as "guides" to help the four terrorists cross over the border. One of the terrorists who was shot dead has been identified, like the guides, as a resident of Muzzaffarabad.

On September 18, a group of terrorists attacked the army camp with AK-47s and grenades; 18 soldiers were killed, the worst setback for the army in Kashmir in over a decade.

Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar also told the Pakistani High Commissioner that a third Pakistani recently arrested has revealed that he trained with the terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba for several weeks. 

Pakistan has so far rejected allegations of its involvement in the Uri strike. In January, an air force base in Pathankot near the border in Punjab was attacked by Pakistani terrorists; seven military personnel were killed.

The air base attack plummeted relations between Delhi and Islamabad, though Prime Minister Narendra Modi allowed a team of investigators from Pakistan to tour the base, a move greatly criticized by the opposition. Since then, Pakistan has said it has no conclusive evidence that the attackers were its citizens.

The weeks before the strike on the army camp in Uri saw a sharp escalation of tension with India blaming Pakistan for instigating the violence that erupted in Kashmir with the shooting in July of 22-year-old terrorist Burhan Wani. Thousands of people marched in protest over Wani's death, and targeted security forces. Nearly 90 people were killed in the unrest that stretched over nearly six weeks; more than 10,000 were injured. India says Pakistan funded and incited the riots; Pakistan has eulogized Wani as a "martyr" and declared the unrest as "a freedom movement."

At the United Nations General Assembly last night, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj warned Pakistan to "abandon this dream" of "obtaining" Kashmir through serial attacks. Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and will always remain so," she said, rebutting the Pakistani premier, who days ago, at the same gathering, accused India of sweeping human rights atrocities in Kashmir to quell the dissent.

Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi has indicated strong military action is not a likely response to the Uri attack, he has declared that it will not go unavenged. While India mounts a global campaign to isolate Pakistan, it is also reconsidering a crucial water-sharing agreement that gives Pakistan the bulk of three waters that flow into it from Kashmir. The government is also reviewing the Most Favoured Nation status accorded to Pakistan since 1996 for trade agreements.