Pak boat- When it comes to Pakistan no question of taking chances

Even as the agencies have assured of piecing together all possible evidence in the Pakistan boat episode, there are several theories that are emerging already. Was this boat on a suicide mission or was it part of a dry run conducted by the Pakistan agencies.

While some have claimed that this boat must have been carrying diesel from Pakistan to India a flourishing trade in this side of the country, the big question remains as to why the 4 men on the boat decided to blow the boat up. The other point is that the situation in the country is so volatile that the Indian agencies just cannot take a chance.

Dry run:

The first bit of information that trickled in suggested that the boat was on Indian waters to carry out a reconnaissance. This is a possibility as we have seen many times in the past, Pakistan agencies using fishing boats to carry out such a mission.

The job handed out to these persons is go in and test the waters collect intelligence on the coast guard positioning and then return. Similar operations had been conducted prior to the 1993 Bombay serial blasts as well and it was at the Porbandar port that the explosives had landed in.

Diesel smuggling:

There is a lot of diesel smuggling that takes place in this part of the country. The point however to be noted here is that this business is not legal and mandates action. The diesel smuggling racket has been going on here for several years now and many have used this as a cover to drop off arms.

Take the case of Yunus alias Lota. He was the one who oversaw the arms being dropped off in Gujarat in 1993 which were later used to execute the blasts the same year in Bombay.

Agencies just cannot take a chance:

The alert levels were particularly high across the nation since the past month. The vigil along the coasts too was stepped up after Intelligence Bureau inputs put out since the month of September suggested that there were attempts being made by terrorist groups to strike at the Indian ports.

The Al-Qaeda in the Sub Continent too had attempted a similar attempt in Karachi where they tried to hijack a naval ship in a bid to launch attacks on US and Indian vessels.

Intelligence Bureau officials say that there is too much activity from across the border and in such an event it is impossible to take any chance. Any movement from Paksitan which raises a doubt needs to be dealt with an iron fist as we all know what happened during the 26/11 attack.

Meanwhile in Pakistan:

Pakistan has denied any links with this incident. Pakistan is however all set to blame India for this incident and will term it as a stage managed exercise. The Foreign Office is likely to issue a statement blaming India of stage managing this incident by using the boats from Pakistan it has in its custody.

There have however been mixed reactions in Pakistan to this incident. While the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum has said that the boat did not belong to any of their fishermen, some analysts have even said that the Indian agencies failed as they allowed the boat to come so far into the Indian waters. Further some analysts also claimed that the Pakistan agencies are capable of carrying out such dry runs.

When it comes to Pakistan there are no niceties:

The Indian navy after the 26/11 attack has changed its approach entirely. Following the horrific 26/11 attack followed by the various intercepts the Indian navy says that there is no question of exchanging niceties with Pakistan. When there is a suspicious movement from Pakistan it will be treated as a jihadi activity, the navy has stated in clear terms.