Look at the causes
Terrorism has become a global phenomenon. Terrorist groups located in various countries make similar choice of victims and use identical tactics to spread panic even when they are not bound together in a formal alliance. Pakistani terrorist groups that include TTP and Ahrarul Hind target religious minorities and security personnel. They employ suicide bombing and beheading of victims as their tactics. This is what ISIS, Boko Haram and al-Shabaab also do. What is more, they all stand for worldwide Islamic Khilafah after eliminating the present nation states. There is a likelihood of all these groups turning into one centralised organisation in days to come. It was sheer simplicity on the part of the PML-N leadership to hope to win over the Pakistani terrorist groups through talks. Had the operation in North Waziristan not been initiated, there was every chance of the ISIS or its proxies having declared the Agency a part of the Caliphate.
While it is necessary to crush terrorist organisations through military action, this can succeed only if accompanied by sound intelligence work. The terrorists have secret command structures which need close monitoring. This explains why the Kenyan government fired its interior minister when Al Shabaab militants killed 36 non-Muslim workers in a surprise attack in northeast Kenya on Monday.
Equally important, if not more, is to eradicate the extremist thinking in the Muslin world, which provides breeding ground to the terrorists. The thinking is caused by various factors like poverty and widespread illiteracy. Among other causes are the atrocities being committed by the Israeli government on the Palestinian population and the failure of the big powers to help in the creation of a Palestinian state. Similarly, failure on the part of New Delhi to resolve the Kashmir issue through talks, combined with atrocities on the Kashmiri people, cause resentment and strengthen the militants. There is a need on the part of India to realise the dangers emanating from terrorism and resolve the issue of Kashmir through peaceful dialogue.