Kashmiri
voters attend an election rally in Srinagar
Indians
Worry US is Double Crossing Them Favoring Pakistan
By
Prakash Shah
NEW
DELHI: Two recent events of major significance may not be as unrelated
as it may seem, as far as India is concerned.
In the Madrid area, terrorist bombings killed over 200 people
and injured over 1,500. Europe’s 9/11 has raised fresh fears
that more such al-Qaeda-type terror bombings will be carried out
in undisclosed European cities this coming spring.
The
terrorist acts effectively scared Spain’s newly elected
government into hastily withdrawing its support and troops in
Iraq. Those who see this decision as a capitulation to terrorist
demands have a valid point.
Those
of us who had hoped that the handing over of administration in
Iraq to the locals will be followed by the United Nation's presence
— to assist Iraqis in creating a democratic political structure
— will be disappointed by the Spanish decision. It will
undoubtedly discourage some countries which are on the verge of
deciding to provide troops to enable UN to resume its presence
in Iraq.
The
Bush administration thus has a valid reason to bemoan the Spanish
decision. But, is it really serious about fighting the war on
terror?
The
second event of importance occurred in the Indian subcontinent
when the US Secretary of State suddenly made an ‘ally’
of Pakistan, a country well-known for harboring and encouraging
terrorists who strike in Afghanistan and Kashmir.
Almost
all major terrorist bombings since 9/11 have a Pakistani imprint
on them, either through training, arms supply, ideological support
or ISI backing to the terrorists. The US decision implies that
Pakistan is a more preferred and reliable partner as compared
to all non-alliance states such as India.
The
enormity of this action as far as India’s interests are
concerned is obvious. After months of coaxing and cajoling, with
promises mixed with subtle threats, the US administration succeeded
in persuading our Prime Minister to give in on our official position
of not entering into a dialogue with Pakistan without complete
stoppage of infiltration and terrorism across the LoC.
Our
government announced its decision to enter into a broad dialogue
with Pakistan, including Kashmir, without pre-conditions. The
Americans thus succeeded in giving international legitimacy and
respect to Musharraf and to Pakistan, which they had lacked when
India maintained its legitimate anti-terrorist stand on talks
with Pakistan.
Having
got India to open a dialogue with Pakistan, the Americans promptly
sent Powell to India to assuage apprehensions of Pakistan’s
blatant and large-scale nuclear proliferation.
In
the face of all available evidence to the contrary, Powell exonerated
Musharraf and his government from any culpability on that issue.
Emboldened by American support, General Musharraf went back to
his original policy of ‘no Kashmir solution, no normalization’
at the India Today Conclave.
It
is a moot point whether Musharraf was informed of the US decision
to confer ‘ally’ status before he spoke at the Conclave.
The balance of evidence indicates that he knew of the decision
and was consequently encouraged to make his negative statement.
Secretary
Powell then tried to endear himself to the leadership in Delhi
through ineffective promises about Pakistan’s good intentions,
soft-peddled Pakistan’s nuclear proliferation activities,
failed to inform India of the US decision on alliance status for
Pakistan, and encouraged his Ambassador in New Delhi to roundly
criticize India for its ‘closed economic policy’.
He also heaped unstinted praise on Musharraf as the great anti-terrorist
fighter in Islamabad.
Does
Mr Vajpayee believe that this is a harmless, unrehearsed act of
a friend? Or, as is more likely, a well-conceived and executed
policy of the US administration amounting to double-crossing the
Indian leadership?
If
you want the US President to be re-elected, you must capture bin
Laden and smash Taliban and Al Qaeda before the democratic convention
this summer. The only way to do so, the theory goes, is to get
full co-operation of Musharraf and Pakistan’s army. To get
Musharraf to do so, you must first make Pakistan a legitimate
entity.
The
route to achieving this is to get India to open a dialogue unconditionally
with Musharraf. You then give all kinds of promises to India to
persuade them to start a dialogue with Pakistan. Whether that
dialogue succeeds to India’s satisfaction is not your concern
as long as you have achieved your purpose of re-electing Mr Bush.
The
US has demonstrated that American interest in creating a broad
front against terrorism is driven solely by the interests of the
Bush administration, domestically and internationally. The Indian
leadership would have to consider how much will this double-cross
affect the BJP’s fortunes during the coming elections. Second,
how long will the Indian government continue this ‘unconditional
dialogue’ with Pakistan in the face of Musharraf’s
reversion to the old policy?
The
question that the Indian leadership would have to answer is whether
— in getting Musharraf’s overt support to catch bin
Laden and al-Qaeda leadership — the Americans have promised
Kashmir to Pakistan?
The
writer is former Permanent Representative of India at the UN.This
article appeared in The Financial Express
