India under PM Modi 'more likely' to respond with force to Pakistan provocation: US Intel report

New Delhi: The United States annual intelligence report has said that India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is "more likely" to respond with force to Pakistan provocation. The annual threat assessment of the US intelligence community report 2021 said, "Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is more likely than in the past to respond with military force to perceived or real Pakistani provocations"

Notably, in the past after the Pulwama terror attack in February 2019, India responded with "Balakot airstrikes" deep inside Pakistani territory. Planes of the Indian Air Force had struck terror camps in the vicinity of Balakot town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. In 2016, after the Uri attack, Indian forces conducted surgical strikes on terror launch pads in Pakistan occupied Kashmir.

The report highlighted that "tensions between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan remain a concern for the world." The US intel report released by the Director of National Intelligence further, pointed out, "although a general war between India and Pakistan is unlikely, crises between the two are likely to become more intense, risking an escalatory cycle."

India has repeatedly asked Pakistan to take action against the terror groups under its territories. The issue has been raised at many multilateral forums such as United Nations, United Nations Human rights council.

The report also mentioned the ongoing situation between India and China stating: "China-India border tensions remain high, despite some force pullbacks this year." The year 2020 was the worst in decades for India and China due to aggressive action by Chinese forces that killed 20 Indian soldiers in Galwan, at the line of actual control in eastern Ladakh.

The report said, "China’s occupation since May 2020 of contested border areas is the most serious escalation in decades and led to the first lethal border clash between the two countries since 1975." In February, troops from both sides de-escalated at Pangong lake pulling back forces and equipment but Chinese forces have made no move at areas like Hot Springs, Depsang, and Gogra. 

The report warned, "Interstate conflicts will also flare, ranging from border sparring, such as that between China and India, to potentially more sustained violent confrontations."