'Pakistan crossed a line, India reacted': US Army veteran on Islamabad's 'low level' ways to express its angst

Hafiz Saeed, head of Pakistan-based terror group LeT (File)

Retired US Army General Wesley Clark has said that Pakistan's ways of expressing its angst over Kashmir has stooped to a "low level", suggesting that India's Operation Sindoor was an expected response after its neighbour "crossed the red line".

Participating in a discussion on Piers Morgan Uncensored show on May 12, Clark said that Pakistan appears to have lost control over the terrorists it has harboured.

"I think there are elements in that terrorist group that Pakistan doesn't control. On the other hand, I think Pakistani leadership wants to keep the pressure on India over Kashmir ... but it would be a logical response of India to assume that this was a pre-meditated and prepared action by the Pakistani military," Clark told Morgan, defending New Delhi's decision to launch precision strikes on terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Clark, the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, said that Pakistan has expressed its frustration over Kashmir several times without inviting any major reaction from India.

"Unfortunately, Pakistan's method of expressing its angst over Kashmir has gone on at a low level many times without any major reaction by India. They finally crossed a line and India reacted," he said.

He said that it is incumbent upon Pakistan to take corrective action publicly against these terror groups to ensure such incidents do not happen again. He was referring to the dastardly Pahalgam attack, in which terrorists killed 26 innocent civilians.

"I hope Pakistan will get these groups under control ... there's gotta be a way to resolve this," Clark said.

Later, during the discussion, host Morgan shut down a Pakistani analyst who claimed that dreaded terrorist and al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden, who was killed in Abbottabad, was trying to hide from his country’s intelligence agencies.

Morgan called the assertion "utterly ludicrous".

"Sorry, with the best will in the world, what you just said is utterly ludicrous. Osama bin Laden was found literally living in a house, a few hundred yards from Pakistan’s main military bases. If your intelligence did not know that he was there, it would be the world’s worst intelligence in the world. That’s why this is a ludicrous statement," Morgan said.

India and Pakistan have agreed to a ceasefire along the Line of Control and International Border after four days of intense military action last week. India avenged the Pahalgam attack by launching precision strikes on terror sites in Pakistan and PoK, eliminating around a 100 terrorists.