New Delhi: When terrorists backed by Pakistan slaughtered over 150 innocent Indians in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the country was still bleeding.
Less than two years later, in August 2010, the then United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, led by the Congress, decided to reward the perpetrator. Yes, you read that right.
While Ajmal Kasab, the lone captured terrorist, was still alive and the evidence of Pakistans hand in the massacre was irrefutable, the grand old party decided to send $25 million (Rs 115 crore then) to Pakistan for flood relief. A gift from victims to their killers.
This is not fiction. This is the Congress model a blueprint of the diplomacy, wrapped in misplaced virtue-signaling. Rahul Gandhis political lineage, which had already failed to secure Indias borders or respond with force, chose instead to write a cheque to a terror-exporting regime that had just soaked Indian soil in blood.
While Indians mourned, the Congress extended a warm diplomatic handshake to the very state shielding terror masterminds like Hafiz Saeed. At a time when even speaking to Pakistan should have been unthinkable, then External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna proudly told Parliament, We cannot remain unconcerned with this grave humanitarian crisis… The Government has decided to increase its assistance to Pakistan from 5 million US dollars to 25 million US dollars.
The Congress tried to justify the aid by wrapping it in the rhetoric of regional solidarity. Krishna claimed, Prime Minister has rightly said that in such times of natural disasters, all of South Asia should rise to the occasion
But Indians asked then and still ask today, What solidarity did Pakistan show when it sent terrorists to Mumbai, Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Pulwama and now Pahalgam?
Now Contrast That With Modis India
Fast forward to 2025. Another Pakistan-backed bloodbath in Pahalgam claims 26 more Indian lives, mostly tourists. But this time, Indias response was not folded hands. It was a clenched fist.
Within hours, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in the Centre swiftly decided and put the Indus Waters Treaty a pact in place since 1960 that gifted Pakistan unfettered access to Indias rivers into abeyance. The move stunned Islamabad. No Indian government had dared to touch this treaty, even during wars. Modi did it after one terror attack.
The practical effect? India began diverting water from the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej rivers, constructing bypass channels and storage systems to redirect flow into Indian fields and reservoirs. Harike and Hussainiwala barrage gates were shut. The symbolic dam of restraint was finally broken.
Pakistans Fields Begin Turning Barren
The impact on Pakistan has been devastating. With drastically reduced inflow to Mangla and Tarbela dams, Sindh and Punjab provinces are witnessing crop failures on a massive scale. Cotton, sugarcane and wheat, the backbone of Pakistans agrarian economy, are withering. Tubewells are drying up. Angry farmers have staged protests across Multan and Bahawalpur, blaming Islamabads jihadi diplomacy for provoking India into retaliation.
Four formal pleas have been sent by Pakistan to India seeking talks to reinstate the treaty. They even appealed to the World Bank to mediate. New Delhis answer? Silence. The message Terror has a cost. You will now pay it in water.
Apart from the water blockade, India has revoked trade ties, recalled the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status for Pakistan, restricted visas and cut back power grid cooperation in Jammu and Kashmirs border areas.
National security agencies have fast-tracked cross-border strike protocols and armed forces have been given greater latitude to respond to infiltration.
Meanwhile, the BJP leadership has categorically ruled out any talks unless Pakistan shuts down terror camps and hands over fugitives like Dawood Ibrahim and Hafiz Saeed.
Two Attacks, Two Responses
What India saw in 2011 was a government that bled and bowed. What it sees now is a government that strikes and stands firm.
This is not only about aid or diplomacy, it is about intent.
The Congress sent dollars. Modi shut dams. The Congress appealed for peace. Modi enforced pressure. The Congress forgave terror. Modi made terror pay.
The difference? The Congress bent. Modi stood tall.