'Proxy war has to be fought by proxy terrorism'

'An unconventional war cannot be fought by conventional means,' says Lieutenant General D B Shekatkar (retd).

"Cross border terrorism cannot be fought successfully by remaining inside your borders. It means you have to increase your area of reach. It doesn't mean that you cross the border yourself. There are mechanisms and it can be done, Lieutenant General D B Shekatkar (retd), who has served in Uri, tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih.

India should not treat this as a terrorist attack by non-State actors. This is a properly planned, executed, controlled attack by the Pakistan army against the Indian Army.

They may say they are non-State actors, but these non-State actors are recognised by a State which is supporting and financing terrorism and a State that is recognised by the UN.

Our response to a proxy war cannot be a direct, open confrontational war. Proxy war has to be fought by proxy terrorism.

Cross border terrorism cannot be fought successfully by remaining inside your borders. It means you have to increase your area of reach. It doesn't mean that you cross the border yourself.

Pakistani soldiers don't come into India, they are sending someone else.

Why are we sleeping for so many years? Are there no people in Pakistan who will not be sold? They will be available.

It doesn't mean that we start killing innocent people. It doesn't mean we start using the language of eye for eye, bullet for bullet.

There are people and they are also equally vulnerable.

The Pakistan army, the ISI is vulnerable, the government itself is vulnerable.

Pakistan is being supported by other countries. My hunch is money is coming from both China and America. They are getting technology, weapons and even encouragement.

The Americans are indulging in doublespeak. They have announced a $10 million prize for (Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist) Muhamed Saeed. They can kill targets in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, but they can't step into Lahore.

We must understand the game, therefore we cannot outsource this war on terrorism to anyone else.

An unconventional war cannot be fought by conventional means.

It doesn't mean we open a new front. There are mechanisms and it can be done.

The Pakistan army, government, the ISI picked up this time because Nawaz Sharif is on his way to New York to attend the UN General Assembly. They have made up their mind to rake up the Kashmir issue.

The idea is to invite a lethal retaliation by India on the people of Pakistan and Pakistan army. That is part of their design.

Uri is a bowl. It is in close proximity to Muzaffarabad, PoK, which is under the command of (Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist) Syed Salahuddin. He is born and brought up in Kashmir, his children are there.

The soldiers attacked in the camp were on their way out. They must have finished their three-year tenure in the LoC and would have left this morning for Srinagar by road.

They were staying in tented accommodation. While three died of bullet wounds, their tent caught fire when they were sleeping and they got burnt inside. It is a terrorist attack.