NEW DELHI, Dec 28: India has put its border forces in “a high state of vigil” and suspended train and bus links after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto raised the spectre of chaos in Pakistan spilling over to its nuclear-armed neighbour.
Experts said India might not suffer much short-term impact, but they said Ms Bhutto’s murder by a suspected suicide attacker could be another nail in the coffin for permanent peace in the region if militant violence holds greater sway over Pakistan.
“There has been a general advisory to all the border forces to maintain a high state of vigil. You can guess why,” a Home Ministry spokesman told Reuters on Friday.
“There are no specific threats as yet. They have been put on alert, there have been various speculations, jihadis, the spillover effect.”
India has suspended the main cross-border train and bus services for at least a day, the home ministry said on Friday, including the Delhi-Lahore Samjhauta Express, which was the target of a bomb attack in February.
India often puts its forces on alert in response to crises in Pakistan, which also has nuclear arms. It did so in November when President Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency.
Washington and many Western allies view Pakistan as a bulwark in the so-called “War on Terror” declared after the Sept 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Pakistan is seen as key to a victory of Western allies over Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.
But for India, the worry is that instability in Pakistan may spill over the border and lead to increased militant attacks in Indian-occupied Kashmir or bomb blasts in Indian cities.—Reuters
