‘No country has foolproof intelligence’: Shashi Tharoor defends govt on Pahalgam attack, cites Israel's example

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Sunday appeared to dismiss criticisms of the government's intelligence services in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack and stated that no country had foolproof intelligence, citing an example of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

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Shashi Tharoor said there are operations that are successful but we only get to know about the terror attacks that the agencies failed to thwart.

“No country can ever have a foolproof 100 per cent intelligence. We will never know about the various terror attacks that were successfully thwarted. We only get to know about the ones that we failed to thwart. This is normal in any nation. There were failures, I agree, but that should not be our main focus right now,” news agency ANI quoted Tharoor as saying.

Terrorists killed 26 civilians, mostly tourists, in the Baisaran meadow near Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam district on April 22, sparking outrage and causing tensions to flare between India and Pakistan.

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Shashi Tharoor compared India's situation in the aftermath of the terror attack to Israel after Hamas attacked a music festival on October 7, 2023.

“We have got the example of Israel, the world's best intelligence services according to everybody, which were taken by surprise on October 7, just two years ago. It seems to me, just as Israel is waiting till the end of the war before they demand accountability, similarly, I think we too should see the present crisis through and then demand accountability from the government,” said the Congress leader.

Karnataka CM clarifies remarks on war with Pakistan

Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah faced flak from the BJP after he stated that there was “no need for war” between India and Pakistan as relations between the two countries become tense following the terror attack in Pahalgam.

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The chief minister issued a clarification that he did not think war was unnecessary but thought that it should not be the most immediate solution.

“I said that it (war) is inevitable, but it must be done with Pakistan, but I did not say that there should be no war. It is the responsibility of the central government to provide security, 26 people died in the incident. I said there should not be a war immediately," said Siddaramaiah.

In an earlier statement, he had pointed out there was a security lapse concerning the attack and that he was not in favour of the war.

"There has been a security lapse in this incident. We are not in favour of war. Steps should be taken to tighten security measures in the Kashmir region. The central government should increase security to ensure peace in Kashmir," Siddaramaiah had said on April 26.