The World

I’ve just arrived in Delhi. A few hours before my plane touched down last night, five bombs went off in markets and parks around the city. Between twenty and thirty people seem to have been killed and lots more injured – and three further bombs have been defused.

At my hotel, they have advised me to avoid “crowded places” – which arguably rules out the whole of India. There is round the clock coverage on television – I counted four all-news channels, and that was just in English. It’s the usual grim post-terror footage of shocked crowds, bloodied streets, sirens, hospital wards and politicians calling for calm.

These bombs are confirmation that India has a serious and growing terror problem. There were 80 people killed by bombings in Jaipur in May, and 55 killed in Ahmedabad in July. But, so far, the Indian reaction seems to have been commendably calm. These latest bombings have been claimed by the “Indian Mujahideen” – an Islamist group, who are also thought (under another guise) to have been behind the earlier attacks. But – although India is no stranger to inter-communal violence – there have been no attacks on Muslim communities, so far. The opposition BJP – which has been lambasting the Congress-led government for being “soft on terrorism” for some time – is calling for tougher security laws. But that would happen anywhere in the world, after attacks like these.

I do wonder, however, whether there might soon be another heightening of tensions with Pakistan. There is plenty of speculation on television about hidden Pakistani hands behind the bombings. The Indians are already angry about the recent bombing of their embassy in Afghanistan, which has been widely blamed here on the Pakistani security services. Meanwhile, the Pakistanis are furious about the US-India nuclear deal, which is nearing fruition. And commentators in Delhi are fretting about heightened Chinese-Pakistani nuclear co-operation, in response.

Add to all that an Indian government that is under attack and facing elections soon; and a new Pakistani president who is also under pressure, following US attacks in the tribal areas.