India's ruling Congress party thinks Pakistan is fast becoming the "Somalia of South Asia". The attack on Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore was the result of the state ceding its territory to the fundamentalists and Taliban of the world, a party spokesman said.
Strong words these, but are they going to come back to haunt India and the Congress itself ? Is this really just about Pakistan or is the fire, which many believe began when foreign forces moved into Afghanistan, already dangerously close to India?
If you saw TV images of the gunmen as they darted across a green in Lahore with their backpacks, aiming their assault weapons and taking cover behind trees, you couldn't help but think of the Mumbai assault when a similar band of attackers roamed the streets, hotels and a train station killing and maiming at will.
If it was Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore on Tuesday, it could just as easily have been a foreign team in Amritsar, just over the border in India. Amritsar is very near Lahore, writes former Indian ambassador M.K.Bhadrakumar, and it doesn't really matter any more on which side of the border the attack took place. The grim reality is both are faced with the same threat and it won't help India to pretend otherwise or sit tight while Pakistan unravels, he says.
"When the terrorists strike in broad daylight in the presence of tens of thousands people in a high security environment within earshot of Amritsar it naturally sends shock waves across India. It is no more relevant where they have struck -- on this side or the other side of the Wagah border. The ground reality is that there is no such thing as absolute security anymore," Bhadrakumar said.
