Hard choices that PM Narendra Modi has to make after Pulwama terror attack
In his spartan South Block office in New Delhi, Narendra Modi sat hunched in deep thought last week. The time had come for him to take the most momentous decision of his prime ministership. Whatever he did in the coming weeks would not only impact India, its reverberations would be felt across the world. It will also decide whether Modi will be voted to power again or be the leader who failed the nation in its critical hour.
The suicide-bomb attack on a convoy of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel on February 14 that left 40 dead was the worst cross-border terror attack in his tenure. It was a brazen and bloody challenge thrown at India by the Jaish-eMohammad (JeM) led by Masood Azhar and his alleged handlers, the Deep State of Pakistan. Modi vowed to avenge the deaths of the security personnel, stating, I want to tell the terror outfits and those aiding and abetting them that they have made a big mistake. They will have to pay a heavy price for their actions. Let me assure the nation that the perpetrators of this attack will be punished.
Modi was confronted with some hard choices. Having already ordered a much-publicised surgical strike in September 2016 following the attack
