Pakistan has started to feel the heat after India announced a slew of measures against Pakistan over the horrific Pahalgam terror attack, which resulted in the deaths of 25 Indians and 1 Nepali citizen.

Islamabad [Pakistan], April 24 (ANI): Pakistan has started to feel the heat after India announced a slew of measures against Pakistan after the horrific Pahalgam terror attack, which resulted in the deaths of 25 Indians and 1 Nepali citizen.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) on Thursday, where he announced a list of face-saving countermeasures against India.

According to a release from the Pakistan PM’s office, the National Security Council said that any attempt to stop or divert the flow of water belonging to Pakistan as per the Indus Waters Treaty, and the usurpation of the rights of lower riparian will be considered as an Act of War. According to ARY News, Pakistan also decided to approach international forums against this move.

Pakistan also stated that it would exercise its right to hold all bilateral agreements with India, including but not limited to the Simla Agreement, in abeyance. Sharif’s government also decided to close down the Wagah Border Post and close Pakistan’s airspace for all Indian owned or Indian operated airlines.

Earlier in response to the Pahalgam Terror attack, where 26 people were killed, India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said that, in recognition of the seriousness of the terrorist attack, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) had taken a series of measures against Pakistan

These included five key decisions:

1) The Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 will be held in abeyance with immediate effect

2) The integrated checkpost Attari will be closed with immediate effect

3) Pakistani nationals will not be permitted to travel to India under the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme

4) Defence, Military, Naval, and Air Advisors in the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi are declared persona non grata. They have a week to leave India.

5) India will withdraw its Defence, Navy, and Air advisors from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad. These posts in the respective High Commissions are deemed annulled.

Meanwhile, asserting that India will not rest until “justice” is pursued, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday issued a stern warning in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack and said that India will “pursue the terrorists to the end of the earth.”

Addressing people at National Panchayati Raj Day in Bihar’s Madhubani, PM Modi said that the entire nation is saddened by the brutality with which terrorists killed innocent civilians in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, on April 22.

“On April 22, terrorists killed innocent people of the country in J-K’s Pahalgam… The country is in mourning and in pain following this incident. We stand with the families of the victims. Today, from the soil of Bihar, India will identify, track and punish every terrorist, their handlers and their backers. We will pursue them to the end of the earth. India’s spirit will never be broken by Terrorism. Terrorism will not go unpunished. Every effort will be made to ensure that justice is done. The entire nation is firm in this resolve. Everyone who believes in humanity is on our side. I thank the people of various countries and their leaders, who have stood with us in these times,” PM Modi said.

“I want to say in very clear words that these terrorists and those who conspired towards this attack will get a punishment bigger than they can imagine. The willpower of 140 crore Indians will now break the back of the masters of terror,” he added.

Earlier, PM Modi observed a moment of silence to pay tribute to those who were killed in the Pahalgam Terrorist Attack, in Bihar’s Madhubani. (ANI)

(The story has come from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by the Tribune Staff.)

A day after India announced the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty 1960 in retaliation to the Pahalgam attack, the government began considering measures to assess the challenges in implementing the move. India has held the Treaty in abeyance and…

Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service

A day after India announced the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty 1960 in retaliation to the Pahalgam attack, the government began considering measures to assess the challenges in implementing the move. India has held the Treaty in abeyance and will no longer be required to adhere to its terms.

Halting flow not easy

Experts say there are two ways to halt water flow to Pakistan — storing water or diverting river flow — both of which present significant challenges. A research paper states that the volume of water from the tributaries could inundate the Kashmir valley, if stored. “We will need large land masses for storage and these may not be easy to find,” it says.

“This means that, based on feasibility, we can now plan water storage or diversion projects on the western rivers allocated to Pakistan under the treaty. Holding it in abeyance does not mean water flow to Pakistan will stop immediately. It introduces substantial uncertainty regarding water security in Pakistan, as India can now plan and do things on western rivers it could not earlier plan and do,” sources said.

Under the treaty, the waters of three western rivers — Indus, Jhelum and Chenab — were allocated to Pakistan, while those of three eastern rivers — Ravi, Beas and Sutlej — were allocated to India. Data shows that 80 per cent of Pakistan’s agricultural irrigation needs are met by the three western rivers, which contribute 21 per cent to Pakistan’s GDP and support nearly 45 per cent of its workforce. The western rivers account for over 80 per cent (117 billion cubic metres) of the total flow of the Indus basin.

When asked if this meant Pakistan would lose access to these waters, a source clarified, “Water cannot be stopped abruptly. However, we can explore ways to utilise the waters of the western rivers by assessing the feasibility of storage or diversion projects. These projects could take a decade or longer to complete. Suspending the Treaty is the first step—now we can begin feasibility studies, which were previously not considered.”

India currently has some hydroelectric power projects on the western rivers. The government can now commission reassessment of the sites to devise feasibility projects. “Overall costs, utilisation and benefits would need to be carefully analysed,” the sources said, acknowledging the challenges of constructing storage projects on the western rivers, but added, “With the treaty suspended, storage restrictions no longer apply and we can proceed with such projects.”

Experts say there are two ways to halt water flow to Pakistan — storing water or diverting river flow — both of which present significant challenges. An Observer Research Foundation paper states that the volume of water from the tributaries could inundate the Kashmir valley if stored. “In reservoir volume terms, every year we will need 30 storages the size of Tehri to store the entire volume of these tributaries which is 117 BCM per year. For that we will need large land masses for storage and these may not be easy to find,” the paper says.

On river diversion, it adds diverting the flow of just one of the three rivers would involve construction of a man-made river over hundreds of kilometres and would pose enormous challenges in design, construction and maintenance.

This would entail investment of lakhs of crores of rupees, acquisition of thousands of hectares of land and could take decades to complete, the paper says, adding that Pakistan will not feel the impact of either for at least next 30 to 50 years.

Minister of Jal Shakti CR Paatil to chair the meeting

Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service

A day after India announced suspension of the Indus Water Treaty 1960 in retaliation of the April 22 Pakistan-sponsored terror attack in Pahalgam, the government has called a key meeting this evening to assess challenges in the implementation of this major decision.

The move means halting the flow of waters from the Indus river and its three western tributaries—Indus, Jhelum and Chenab—allocated to Pakistan under the Treaty, while India has full rights over three eastern rivers— the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej.

Minister of Jal Shakti CR Paatil will chair the key meeting to decide how to halt the flow of water from western rivers to Pakistan. Data show 80% of Pakistan’s irrigation needs for agriculture are met through the three western rivers. In economic terms, these waters contribute 21% of the Pakistan GDP and support nearly 45% of its workforce.

Government estimates suggest the suspension of the Treaty could mean blocking the flow of western rivers which make up more than 80% (117 billion cubic metre) of the entire flow of the Indus basin.

But this may not be as easy as it looks.

Experts say there are two ways of halting this water—either storing it or diverting the flow of the rivers, both being challenging.

An ORF (Observer Research Foundation) paper on the feasibility of halting the flow of western river waters to Pakistan says the volume of water these tributaries contribute—117 BCM is enough to inundate the whole of Kashmir Valley to a height of seven metres every year.

”In reservoir volume terms every year we will need 30 storages the size of Tehri to store this entire volume of 117 BCM. For that we will need large land masses for storage and these may not be easy to find,” the assessment says.

On river diversion the ORF paper notes that diverting the flow of just one of the three rivers would involve construction of a man-made river over hundreds of kilometres and would pose enormous challenges in design, construction and maintenance.

”Any such proposal would require investment of lakhs of crores of rupees, acquisition of thousands of hectares of land and would take decades to complete. In either the storage or the diversion proposal, Pakistan will not feel any impact of either for at least next 30 to 50 years. Needles to mention, the environmental impact of either of the above two options would be catastrophic,” it adds.

The 4 pm meeting today will assess these challenges and devise the way forward to implement the suspension of the Indus Water Treaty on the ground.

Clad in brown clothes, faces covered, equipped with GoPro cameras mounted on their heads, the terrorists descended on the picturesque meadow of Baisaran and changed it into a blood-soaked site

“You have created terror here,” a terrorist shouted before continuing to indiscriminately fire at tourists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baisaran, ignoring pleas to spare their lives, survivors of the massacre recounted at Dombivli near Mumbai on Thursday after returning home.

Three cousins — Sanjay Lele (50), Hemant Joshi (45) and Atul Mone (43) — hailing from Dombivli in Thane district, were among the 26 persons, mostly tourists, killed in the ghastly terror attack at Pahalgam on April 22.

Relatives of the deceased narrated how what began as an idyllic day turned out to be the worst day of their life as terrorists — clad in brown clothes, faces covered, equipped with GoPro cameras mounted on their heads — descended on the picturesque meadow of Baisaran and changed it into a blood-soaked site.”There were at least four of them,” said Harshal Lele, whose father Sanjay and two uncles were killed in the attack.

“I saw two, but from their movements and the sound of footsteps, I could tell there were more. They had beards and wore brown clothes, though I cannot say whether it was a uniform,” he told the media.

Harshal Lele, who travelled with his family to Pahalgam on April 22, recalled the moment his life changed. “My hand was on my father’s head when I suddenly felt something wet. I looked, and it was blood as he had been shot,” he recounted with trembling voice.

The attack unfolded suddenly. “We first thought the firing sound was like a bulb fuse bursting. Then the sound came closer. Locals alerted us, but it was already too late,” he said.

Anushka Mone, wife of the deceased Atul Mone, shared how her husband was murdered while trying to reason with the attackers. “We reached Baisaran Valley around 1-1.30 pm. It was a bright, beautiful day. Suddenly we heard gunfire, but thought it was some adventure activity nearby,” she said.

The gunmen demanded to know who among the group were Hindus or Muslims. “They asked us three to four times. No one answered. My husband stepped forward and said, ‘Why are you shooting us? We have done nothing.’ They shot him,” Anushka Mone said.

She recalled the moment her another relative raised his hand when asked again who among them was Hindu. “They executed him right there,” she said.

“These were tourists, families. What terror had we spread?” she stated while narrating the words of terrorists who told her “you have created terror here” before firing another round into the terrified crowd.

Harshal Lele described how his uncle, Atul Mone, was asked to separate from his wife and relatives. “He refused. He hugged them tightly, and they shot him in the abdomen,” he said.

His other uncle, Hemant Joshi, tried to plead with the attackers. “He said, ‘We have done nothing, let us go,’ and they shot him for that,” Harshal Lele said. He witnessed his father being shot in the head after trying to speak to one of the attackers.

In the chaos that followed, the survivors were guided out by locals and horse service providers. “There was no security at the site. The area was wide open, with more than a hundred tourists maybe even more, we could not see the full area,” Harshal Lele added.

“I carried my mother on my back before we got help from a pony ride operator who offered us to take her down on his horse. We walked for four hours through the mud and hills,” he said.

“My mother had a partially paralysed leg. We reached the hospital at around 6 pm. The firing happened at 2.30. By 7 pm, they told me three people from my family had died,” Harshal Lele stated.

The Lele family took shelter at the home of a family friend who is an IPS officer. Harshal Lele was called for body identification the next morning and later taken to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

Responding to a question on expectations of the family, he said, “The terrorists can be anywhere. Do not spare them. Give shoot at sight orders. I don’t know what else to say.” Families of the victims are now demanding accountability and justice.

“The government must act. We were ordinary tourists. We went to see nature, not to become victims of terrorism,” said Anushka Mone.

The family broke down before the media as they narrated the harrowing sequence of events that turned a dream vacation into a blood-soaked nightmare.

Anushka Mone recalled how Hemant Joshi, confused and unaware of the threat, asked the terrorists what they were doing. “They shot him in the head before he could finish his sentence,” she said.

Her daughter Richa Mone, a Class XII student, who was also at the spot, added, “They asked about Sanjay uncle. I was right behind him when they shot him dead.” She recounted how her uncle — Anushka’s Mone’s brother — was spared possibly only because his wife wore green bangles, which the terrorists may have mistakenly associated with Muslim identity.

“There was no chance to run. If we had, they would have fired more bullets and killed more people. So we ducked and sat silently,” she said.

Survivors described a night of fear and confusion. “We were escorted down by military and police personnel after hours. There were choppers, but too few. There should have been better security at such a major tourist spot. On the upper hills, there was nothing,” said Richa Mone.

“We sat at the Pahalgam base till 9.30 pm. Many others were in worse conditions. It was complete chaos,” Anushka Mone recounted

Meanwhile, a search operation to track down a group of three terrorists is ongoing in the Basantgarh belt

The Army, CRPF, BSF, and Jammu and Kashmir Police on Friday paid tributes to paratrooper Jhantu Ali Sheikh, who laid down his life while fighting terrorists in Udhampur district.

Havaldar Sheikh, a trooper of the special forces (6 Para), was killed on Thursday in the encounter that broke out following a search operation in the Dudu-Basantgarh area of the district.

A wreath-laying ceremony for the soldier was held at the 166 Military Hospital in Jammu. Later, his body was dispatched to his native place—Pathar Ghata village in Nadia district, West Bengal, for burial, officials said.

Senior Army, police, Central Reserve Police Force, and Border Security Force officials, led by the Chief of Staff of the White Knight Corps, Major General Shailender Singh, laid wreaths on the body of the trooper and saluted his sacrifice.

Meanwhile, a search operation to track down a group of three terrorists is ongoing in the Basantgarh belt of the district by security forces, they said.

Pahalgam attack is deadliest in Valley since Pulwama attack in 2019, where 40 security personnel were killed

A first photo of a suspected terrorist has surfaced within hours after the deadly Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed.

In a screengrab taken from one of the videos from the site, a man, suspected to be a terrorist, can be seen wearing a kurta and carrying an assault rifle. He is believed to be one of the terrorists involved in the Pahalgam terror attack.

Terrorists opened fire at a popular tourist spot near Kashmir’s Pahalgam town on Tuesday afternoon, killing 26 people, mostly vacationers from other states.

This attack is the deadliest in the Valley since the Pulwama attack in 2019, where 40 security personnel were killed.

Top court was hearing plea of Jayashree, who had raised her stepson Harsha after his biological mother passed away

The Supreme Court has said it will examine whether a stepmother can be considered for family pension under the Indian Air Force rules, saying “mother is a very wide term”.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh questioned the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) decision to deny family pension to a woman, who raised her stepson since the age of six and said the regulations are not constitutional mandates.

“’Mother’ is a very wide term,” the bench said, adding that nowadays, with so many things happening in the world, it is not the biological mother alone who raises the child.

Justice Surya Kant told the counsel for the air force, “Take, for example, if a baby is born and the biological mother passes away and the father marries again… The stepmother, right from the time when the child requires breastfeeding, brings him up, and then he becomes an army officer, air force and navy. If she has really looked after that child, is she not his mother?” The counsel tried to justify the decision of the IAF, saying there are numerous judgments which rule out a stepmother from family pension.

“There are judgments of this court interpreting the word stepmother. There is a well-established criterion under the regulations as to who is eligible for family pension,” the counsel for the air force said.

“Regulations are something which you have decided. Regulations are not something constitutional mandates… We are questioning the logic behind these regulations. How and on what basis can you deprive technically a stepmother of a special pension or family pension,” Justice Surya Kant said.

Failing to get an appropriate response from lawyers both for the petitioner as well as the air force, the bench said it appears both the advocates are not prepared and asked them to go through the judgments of the court as well as high court on the subject.

“There are two judgments of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, including one related to civil services rules, which has dealt with the issue of stepmother and pension. You go through these judgments and come prepared on the next date of hearing,” Justice Surya Kant told the lawyers and posted the matter for hearing on August 7.

The top court was hearing a plea of Jayashree, who had raised her stepson Harsha after his biological mother passed away.

She has challenged the December 10, 2021 decision of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) denying her family pension after her stepson, who was in the air force, passed away.

On July 19 last year, the top court agreed to hear the plea and issued notice to the Centre and the Air Force.

The bench said, “The question that falls for consideration in this case is whether a stepmother is entitled to special pension and ordinary family pension as per the Army regulations.” The AFT, in its decision of December 10, 2021, upheld the IAF’s decision denying special family pension to the stepmother on the ground that it can only be given to the biological mother.

Was determined to serve country, don uniform, says father

Parveen Arora Tribune News Service

A day after the cremation of Navy officer Lt Vinay Narwal, who was killed in a terror attack at Pahalgam in Kashmir on Tuesday, his family opened up about his aspirations and courage, as well as the pain caused by misleading videos on social media related to Narwal and his wife Himanshi.

Amid the tragedy, the family’s strength stands as a testament to the spirit of those who send their sons and daughters to serve the nation.

Responding to a viral video claiming that Narwal and Himanshi were dancing at Pahalgam, minutes before the attack, his sister, Srishti, clarified that it was not their video.

“Please confirm such things with the family before posting or airing them. Vinay was everything to me, and will remain so. I request everyone not to circulate false information,” she said.

She also appealed to people to give her brother honour, saying that, “It is my humble request and wish that my brother should be given the highest honour he truly deserves.”

His father, Rajesh Narwal, spoke about his son’s ambitions, recalling how he had dreamed of serving the nation since childhood. “Vinay was a brilliant student, a dashing officer, and a gem of a son. Even though he completed engineering, he refused to take up a private job. He was determined to wear the uniform, and he did,” he said.

Vinay initially aspired to become a fighter pilot, but his height became a hurdle. “He tried twice to become a fighter pilot, but could not qualify due to the height requirement. He did not give up and chose the Navy and cleared it in his first attempt,” he said with pride, and pain.

Fighting his emotions, Rajesh said, “The government is doing its job, and I believe they will continue to do what is necessary. This is a national tragedy, and the entire country is standing with us. Only those who suffer such a loss truly understand the pain.”

He acknowledged the swift response of the Jammu and Kashmir administration when he reached Pahalgam to bring his son’s mortal remains. “Everyone, from local officials to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, acted promptly. The PM even cut short his foreign visit. The government is handling everything with gravity.”

Refraining from commenting on Pakistan or any possible retaliation, he said, “That is a matter for my country and my government. I have full faith that they will do what is right.”

Reflecting on how quickly the situation changed from celebration to mourning, he said, “Time is powerful. Just two days ago, the tent from the celebrations had not even been fully removed, and now this deep sorrow has fallen upon us. This grief is not mine alone—the entire nation stands with me. But for me and my family, this is an irreparable loss. Only God can give us the strength to endure it.

It is not clear how seriously the Indian security establishment took ChaudHaryana’s media briefing, but great attention has been paid in India to Pakistan army chief Gen Asim Munir’s statement to the overseas Pakistanis on April 16.

Vivek Katju

The nation has been deeply angered and outraged by the dastardly terrorist attack on innocent tourists at Baisaran, Pahalgam, on April 22, which claimed at least 26 innocent lives of tourists belonging to different parts of India. It has been condemned by the country’s entire political class, though some opposition parties are also seeking that responsibility be fixed on those concerned with the maintenance of security in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The international community has also denounced the attack and leaders of important countries have said that they stand with India in its fight against terrorism.

However, such support notwithstanding and behind-the-scene appeals that will inevitably be made to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to exercise restraint, the fact is that this attack presents the Modi government with a very grave security and public relations challenge. Unlike Pulwama or Galwan, where defence personnel died, at Baisaran, the terrorists mercilessly targeted specific civilians.

It would, therefore, be no exaggeration to state that the nation’s eyes will be on Modi. It will expect that he will give a full and befitting response to the perpetrators of Baisaran and those who aided and sponsored them, especially after the claims of normalcy having returned to J&K after 2019.

The attack has been claimed to have been undertaken by the Resistance Front, which is believed to be affiliated with the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Those who have had long experience in studying Pakistani terrorism against India would instinctively know that an attack of this nature can never be undertaken without the specific orders of the Pakistani generals.

Hence, the first assessment has to be the reason which led the Pakistani generals to order the attack. They have been unhappy at the progress in India’s relations with the Afghan Taliban, though that has largely been under the radar. They also hold India responsible for assisting the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan and the Baloch Resistance Groups. All this fed into their intense anger with India for the Baloch Liberation Army’s attack on the Jaffar Express on March 11. The Pakistan army held India directly responsible for that attack. Pakistan’s political authorities and its Foreign Ministry were more circumspect.

After studying all aspects of what had transpired in Pakistan after the Jaffar Express attack, this writer wrote an article in Firstpost, on March 21. Its concluding paragraphs are relevant to the Baisaran attack and are quoted below:

“Soon after the BLA attack, the Pakistani army said that, with it, the ‘rules of the game had changed’. Chaudhry (Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, Director-General, Inter-Services Public Relations) was asked to clarify these words in the press conference. It is now that he said words that Indian analysts and policymakers should pay close attention to. He said that BLA and (terrorist groups) would be dealt with the way they ‘deserve’ and the same would apply to their facilitators and abettors whether inside or outside Pakistan.

“The Pakistani army follows the tradition of ‘badal‘ (badal in Pashto means revenge) for perceived grievances. It has done so against India even though, in the process, it has beggared the country. It knows no way other than that of confrontation. This is part of its ethos and each army chief has to show that he is up to giving a ‘fitting’ response, especially to an attack on the institution he leads, perceives or rather misperceives has come from India. As such, it is possible that the Pakistan army will attempt to sponsor a terrorist event in India within the foreseeable future,” I wrote.

In the wake of the Baisaran attack, it is clear that Indian policy-makers must respond decisively. They should make it clear to all the major powers, especially those with influence over Pakistan, that public sentiment in India — including in Jammu & Kashmir, which has witnessed unprecedented anger against the attack — will demand an appropriate retaliation to the massacre of innocent civilians in Pahalgam. Moreover, India should have no hesitation in stating that the dangers associated with escalation will not be India’s responsibility.

Second, these powers should be clearly told that they cannot interfere any more in attempting to resolve the long-standing differences between the two countries; and they should, indeed, let this be known to Pakistan as well.

It is not clear how seriously the Indian security establishment took ChaudHaryana’s media briefing at the time, but great attention has been paid in India to Pakistan army chief Gen Asim Munir’s statement to the overseas Pakistanis on April 16.

Referring to the ‘two-nation theory’ which is Pakistan’s ideological frontier which its army is sworn to defend, Munir said explicitly what the army and most Pakistanis believe privately but do not articulate publicly: Hindus and Muslims constitute two irreconcilable nations. He expressed his ire against the Balochi terrorists but asserted that they could not impair Pakistan’s unity.

Munir’s comment that J&K is Pakistan’s ‘jugular vein’ is also old hat. Munir’s animus against India may have been illustrated in this address, but for seeking a reason for the present terrorist attack, it is essential to go back to ChaudHaryana’s fulminations.

In charting a course for a response to the Baisaran attack, Modi will be acutely aware that for the Indian public, the mowing down of innocent civilians hailing from all corners of the country falls in the category of ‘unacceptable’. The attacks in Uri and Pulwama, in contrast, were against Indian soldiers. This time around in Pahalgam, the Pakistani terrorists crossed a line.

It follows that a response to such an attack, must necessarily be kinetic. Obviously, it cannot be knee-jerk or even immediate, but it must satisfy Indian public opinion.

It is inevitable that the great powers will be drawn in to defuse India-Pakistan tensions. The Pakistani generals will urge that the involvement of these powers is needed to go into the root causes of bilateral problems, ie J&K. They may seek to invoke the UNSC or Donald Trump, but India should clearly state that India-Pakistan issues have to be dealt with bilaterally.

Late this evening, the first blow has been struck via the diplomatic route — the 1960 Indus Waters treaty, which has survived two wars, will be immediately suspended, and the already small strength of the diplomatic missions in both countries will be halved.

The country knows that this is only the first step, a warning to Pakistan as well as the world that India means business.

The next few weeks are going to be tension-filled for the country and the leadership will have to think strategically. The India-Pakistan relationship is at a crossroads. Pahalgam is a clear marker.

Vivek Katju is former Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs.