State-sponsored terrorism
Also called: Cross-border terrorism · Topic: India's External Relations, 1947-1999: Non-alignment, Wars and Nuclear Policy · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
State-sponsored terrorism is terrorism that a government supports. That government trains, funds, arms or shelters terrorist groups, often so they can attack another country across a border. The sponsoring state uses the groups as a cover so it can deny that it was involved. India's position goes beyond the terrorist groups and holds the states that back them responsible. India calls such state backing a "non-negotiable red line", which means a limit it will never accept, and it asks partners for zero tolerance towards states that support terror.
Example
From 1989, Pakistan backed militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, as it had earlier done in Punjab. The same pattern appeared in 1947, when Pakistan-backed tribal raiders invaded Kashmir. In Operation Sindoor, India struck and destroyed terrorist infrastructure. It presented the operation as a firm red line against state-sponsored terror.
Don't confuse with
- Cross-border terrorism: this term describes where the attacks come from, which is across a border. The attackers may or may not have a state behind them. "State-sponsored" describes who backs the attackers, which is a government.
- Proxy war: here a state fights through other people instead of using its own army openly. The 1947-48 tribal invasion of Kashmir is one case. State-sponsored terrorism is one form of proxy war: it uses terrorist attacks, often against civilians, rather than battles between armed forces.