Well...well...well...what a way to squander away such a moral high ground we had to nail the Pakistani liers. The UPA Government got an electoral mandate to safeguard the interests of the Nation; now, after getting such a resounding mandate & the confidence that the Government is safe for the next 5 years, they are playing into the game being played upon us by Pakistan with the help of several hidden hands (read US). 3 most important issues on which the Government made a climbdown:
1. The formulation "action on terrorism should not be linked to the composite dialogue process and these should not be bracketed", is a major setback to India which had such a great opportunity to push Pak into the corner. The question is - why can't / shouldn't India bracket terrorism & link it to the composite dialogue process? On the contrary, India has all the legitimate rights to bracket terrorism. 26 / 11 & several other terror attacks prior to that have rattled the length & breadth of India, & in most cases, these are perpetrated by Pak based terror outfits. In such a scenario, how can we not bracket the issue of terrorism, when in fact, that is the single most important issue of concern that's affecting peace in the region? We have been the worst hit by terrorism, perhaps even more than other volatile regions in the world. In such a scenario, the climbdown by the Government was least expected & this, raises serious concerns if the Indo - US Nuclear deal was a serious compromise on our security concerns. This is because, it's a known fact that the US is more leaning toward Pak, & Pak is using the Indo - US Nuclear deal to its advantage in diplomatic negotiations, by exploiting it's long standing relationship with the US. In the entire gamut of diplomatic relations with Pak, terrorism is the only major issue of concern; there's none else. The UPA Government's action is all the more deplorable especially because, just a few days ago, the Pak President confessed to the earlier Pak Governments using terrorism as a State policy against India. Now, what kind of a National character is it, of a Nation that uses such inhuman means as terror as a State policy??? To add to the mounting evidence, only a day ago, a senior UN official warned of heightened possibilities of the LeT mounting terror attacks on India once again. This is a very rare instance when the UN has come out with such a strong evidence against a member country. Does this not increase the scepticism with which we should be looking @ our neighbors & their policies? In such a scenario, what does the Indian Government do? It surrenders to Pak's demand for not bracketing terrorism.
On its part, Pak, which was pressing very hard for resumption of the dialogues, merely promised to do "everything in its power in this regard". Now, what kind of a statement is this, from a civilian Government in power? This statement is literally meaningless; it has no basis; & does not command trust in our eyes. A civilian Government in power is expected to make reassuring & strong commitments; that's the way diplomatic & civilian relations between 2 countries can mature & lead to mutually beneficial interactions. The kind of statement made by the Pak PM does not hold any water, &, it's surprising that the Indian PM did not seek strong commitments in that regard. We have to see how our foreign affairs wing will handle the situation in future.
2. The joint statement is silent on Pakistan's commitment of January 6, 2004 that it will not allow its territory to be used for terrorism against India. In a sense, Pakistan can feel freed from that promise. India's concession on this front comes even as intelligence and information mount of more and deadly terror attacks being planned against India from Pak-based and supported terror groups.
How could Pak be let off so easily when they're half-heartedly launching attacks on their home grown & State sponsored terrorists? We cannot & should not rely completely on international support. A case in point is the let-off of Hafiz Saeed, the terrorist India claims to be the mastermind of 26/11. When the US' Richard Holbrooke was asked for his comments on Hafiz Saeed's let off, he merely said - "it's Pak's internal matter". If the US is truly serious about nailing Pak & confronting it from spreading terror, such a lackadaisical statement wouldn't be made by a senior US Government official. All this merely indicates that, while our diplomats engage in garnering international support, we have to do what we must, to safeguard ourselves. Unfortunately, the UPA Government appears to be using only the diplomatic engine without doing much on safeguarding our security concerns. Having NSA hubs in our metros is not the solution. At best, the regional NSA hubs can help reduce the casualties of a Mumbai like situation arising in future. By themselves, the NSA hubs can't stop terror attacks from occuring. Strong diplomatic actions have to be seconded by strong offensive actions to root out such a menace like terrorism. Only then can we see some positive results coming our way. Else, Pak will continue to foster 26/11 type of incidents just like firing crackers during Deepavali.
3. Agreeing to take Pakistan's Balochistan problem from being an internal affair of Pakistan to a bilateral issue. Now, why on earth should India be concerned with the Baloch problem? Of course, a strong & stable neighbor is good for India. There's no 2nd thought about it. But, why should we agree to make Pak's Baloch problem, a bilateral issue? Agreeing to this legitimises Islamabad's contention that the Balochistan unrest was being fomented by India. This, in my opinion was a diplomatic gaffe which we couldn't have afforded, especially when we are in the middle of mounting further pressure on Pak to tackle terror.
All in all, there is no doubt that we did not do our homework properly before meeting the Pak delegation in Egypt. Let's see what the Government's next steps will be in the coming days, especially on the issue of terror fomented by our esteemed neighbor, & its policies to tackle the same.
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