Pakistan Using Terror as State Policy Since 1947: NatStrat Report

• NatStrat releases an eight-decade timeline of Pakistan-backed terror attacks on India.
• Report claims Pakistan adopted terrorism as state policy from 1947.
• Documents ISI’s role in Khalistan, Kashmir militancy, and major attacks including 26/11.
• Ambassador Pankaj Saran says current generation must not forget this history.

GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 26th Nov: As India marks the 17th anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, NatStrat – an independent strategic and security research centre – has released a comprehensive report detailing Pakistan-sponsored terrorism against India from 1947 to 2025. Titled “Chronology of Pakistani Terror Attacks on India (1947–2025)”, the study outlines what it describes as an unbroken pattern of cross-border terrorism rooted in Pakistan’s long-standing state policy.

Speaking to NDTV on the eve of the anniversary, Ambassador Pankaj Saran, former Deputy National Security Advisor and Convenor of NatStrat, said the project emerged from a national need to document the “consistent strategic behaviour” of Pakistan. “We realised we were looking at a pattern designed to hurt India through non-military means based on deniability and subterfuge,” he said. He added that younger generations must remember this history, which began with the tribal invasion of Jammu & Kashmir in October 1947.

Eight-Decade Terror Framework

The report argues that Pakistan adopted terrorism as a tool of statecraft from the moment of its creation. The 1947 invasion of Jammu & Kashmir, led by Pakistani military officers including Major General Akbar Khan, marked the genesis of Islamabad’s proxy warfare strategy. Over time, this evolved into ISI-run networks of terror groups, training camps and radicalisation hubs across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

According to NatStrat, Pakistan’s military and intelligence establishment has played a direct role in:

• Khalistani insurgency (1980s) via training hubs in Lahore and Karachi and arms pipelines.
• Kashmir militancy post-1989, supported by Afghan war veterans and groups like LeT, Hizbul Mujahideen and JeM.
• Major terror strikes across India, including the 1993 Mumbai blasts, 2001 Parliament attack, 2006 Mumbai train bombings, 2008 Indian Embassy attack in Kabul and the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
• Recent attacks, including Pathankot (2016), Uri (2016), Pulwama (2019) and the 2025 Pahalgam attack.

Many of these organisations and their leaders – Hafiz Saeed of LeT and Masood Azhar of JeM among them – are listed under UN Security Council sanctions. Pakistan itself was placed on the FATF grey list for terror financing, further reinforcing what India has frequently called the “mothership of terrorism.”

26/11: The Most Brutal Example

The Mumbai attacks of November 26, 2008, remain, according to the report, the most glaring instance of Pakistan-backed terror. Ten Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists, trained and instructed by handlers linked to the ISI, carried out a coordinated assault that killed 166 people, including foreign nationals. The operation exposed the scale and sophistication of Pakistan’s proxy infrastructure.

NatStrat argues that 26/11 was not an isolated event but part of a continuing chain – from the IC-814 hijacking in 1999 to the Parliament attack in 2001 and the Pulwama suicide attack in 2019.

Pakistan’s Establishment at the Core

The report states that Pakistan’s Army and ISI have, for decades, exerted control over jihadist groups as instruments of state policy. It highlights how even major decisions, such as the Kargil War, were undertaken by military generals without full civilian oversight.

From providing weapons and shelter to facilitating fundraising networks abroad, the report says Pakistan’s military remains an architect of transnational terror.

India’s Response and Resilience

Despite the heavy toll of eight decades of terrorism, India has steadily strengthened its defence, intelligence and diplomatic posture. The report notes that India has repeatedly exposed Pakistan’s terror links in global forums, boosted counterterror preparedness and undertaken cross-border operations targeting terror infrastructure.

Ambassador Saran said the chronicle serves as “a reminder of the strength and resilience of India that has withstood the continuous onslaught on its social and political fabric.”

As India remembers the victims of 26/11, the NatStrat document stands as a comprehensive reference for policymakers, researchers and citizens — a detailed record of the price India has paid and a warning that Pakistan’s proxy warfare doctrine continues to pose a threat.