Author:
Publication: Wall Street Journal
Date: April 23, 2003
URL: http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030423_011354,00.html
Cast your mind back to January last
year. Then, President Pervez Musharraf pledged to clamp down on terrorism
in Kashmir. "Pakistan rejects and condemns terrorism in all its forms and
manifestations," he said. A few months later, he promised to "permanently"
end militant incursions over the Line of Control into Indian-administered
Kashmir. True, those incursions did taper off. But reports citing Indian
and American officials say they have since risen. Promises, promises.
Last week, Prime Minister Atal Behari
Vajpayee travelled to Kashmir and spoke at a rally in Srinagar, the first
time an Indian leader had done so since 1987. He also made an offer of
fresh talks with Pakistan, later saying that these were premised on Islamabad
closing down what India claims are "terrorist camps." Though Pakistan made
encouraging noises in response, what is still needed is for Islamabad to
prove its commitment to peace by providing the major condition for the
start of negotiations to settle the problem of Kashmir: Keep last year's
promises; rein in the militants.
This really shouldn't be difficult,
given Pakistan's claim that it only provides moral support to Kashmir's
Muslims. There is no reason Gen. Musharraf can't make good his promise
to end terrorism committed "in the name of Kashmir," since moral support
of Muslim Kashmiris doesn't equate with a failure to act on militants.
Yet Gen. Musharraf has been let off easily on this, because the U.S. has
the strongest leverage with Islamabad and it has been leery of undermining
the general who threw his support behind the American-led campaign in Afghanistan.
(Incredibly, when it was learned that Pakistan had bought missiles from
North Korea, Washington waived sanctions against the Pakistan government.)
Today, the campaign in Afghanistan
is ending. The longer the U.S. now abstains from imposing pressure on Islamabad,
the greater it subjects to question its own campaign against terror. Why,
many ask, must India quietly suffer danger to its people in Kashmir when
the U.S. insists on its right to take pre-emptive measures against attacks
on its own people? U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and
Christina Rocca, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for South Asia,
are expected to arrive in the region in May. It may be time Washington
became honest and held Pakistan to the promises it made last year. Then,
maybe we can expect the first real step toward peace on the Subcontinent.
