Posted by: Osman on: 08/01/2009
INDIA’S intentions are now clear. Our neighbour to the east is interested more in maligning Pakistan internationally than finding a solution to the current stand-off. It could even be argued that bringing to book those who orchestrated the Mumbai assault does not really top New Delhi’s list of priorities, for there are wheels within wheels. India seems to be interested in one thing alone: isolating Pakistan in the global arena. Why would India want to pursue such a course? More than one explanation comes to mind. Not satisfied with the fact that it is already the region’s hegemon, India desires official — read western — endorsement of this reality. The upcoming elections in India must also be taken into account because Pakistan-bashing is the most convenient way for the Congress party to steal the BJP’s thunder and gloss over the Indian state’s massive security lapses in Mumbai. Although Prime Minister Manmohan Singh admitted on Tuesday that there is a problem on the security front, he was quick to divert the blame to regional actors. India may also be drumming up international support to have Pakistan declared a terrorist state. If that were to happen, there would be calls for stripping Pakistan of its nuclear capability, much to India’s satisfaction and to the detriment of the balance of terror.
For a while it seemed that tensions were easing but India has been upping the ante in recent days. Originally it was said that the Mumbai attackers had ‘links’ with Pakistan. Then New Delhi shifted the focus from non-state to state actors, and on Tuesday Manmohan Singh opted for an all-out assault, alleging that Pakistan “uses terrorism as an instrument of state policy.” He further claimed, without putting on the table the evidence India claims to have gathered, that “given the sophistication and military precision of the attack it must have had the support of some official agencies in Pakistan.” This statement has changed the equation completely. Islamabad’s attitude thus far has been conciliatory and this must not change. However, Tuesday’s tirade deserves a measured yet strong riposte.
New Delhi has handed over a dossier of ‘information’ or ‘evidence’ and it is in the fitness of things that Islamabad peruses the same to verify the Indian ‘findings’. If the dossier contains any actionable intelligence, appropriate measures should be taken because that is in our own interest more than anybody else’s. For its part, India must realise the inherent absurdity of its demands. On the one hand it claims that Pakistan “uses terrorism as an instrument of state policy.” At the same time India wants the state of Pakistan to take action against those who masterminded the Mumbai attacks. This makes no sense and cannot serve as the basis for a working relationship.
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