Author: Jyoti Malhotra & Pranab
Dhal Samanta
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: May 11, 2003
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/archive_full_story.php?content_id=23686
CIA operative, weightlifter, US
Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage must clearly be a man of many
parts. He probably realised he needed to say something different to Prime
Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today, exactly 11 months after he'd promised
on behalf of Pakistan that cross-border infiltration into India would ''permanently''
cease.
So once he seated himself at Race
Course Road, Armitage fished out a poem written by Vajpayee, since translated
into English. He then proceeded to read out four lines from Jang nahin
hone denge to the select audience. They listened, then smiled politely.
The letter from President Bush to Vajpayee condoling the death of his sister
had already been delivered.
What next, seemed to be the uppermost
thought in many minds. It was a question New Delhi had asked again and
again the American leader all day.
They had shown him new evidence
to suggest the opposite of what Musharraf had told him a day earlier. It
was clear New Delhi was not buying the General's assurance that terror
camps, if they existed in PoK, would be gone tomorrow (In Karachi, Pakistan's
Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri called for ''unconditional'' talks with
India, saying that was the only way discussions would be fruitful).
External Affairs Minister Yashwant
Sinha had started the ball rolling this morning, the twine picked up by
Foreign Secretary Sibal and then wound through the afternoon by FM Jaswant
Singh and Dy PM L K Advani. What was US going to do about the promise Musharraf
made to Washington last year about ending terrorism? What about the camps
and launching pads and the funds that sponsored the continuing terror?
''The PM's initiatives were designed
to create conditions for Pakistan to respond to us favourably on cross-border
terrorism and dismantling of the terrorist infrastructure (across the LoC),
and not to substitute this requirement. A dialogue can take place only
when a conducive atmosphere is created.'' This was MEA later, briefing
newsmen on what New Delhi had to say to Armitage.
In response, Armitage is believed
to have taken notes and nodded vigorously. When New Delhi sought to deluge
him with terrorist-related information, they got the impression that he
was trying to distance himself from his own statements and those of Musharraf
from a year ago.
At one point, the real Armitage
stood up. He told the Indian leadership that the Lashkar-e-Toiba and the
Jaish-e-Mohammed, two terrorist outfits banned by the US in the wake of
the December 13 attack on Parliament, which already meant that they were
a threat to India, indeed had links with the Al-Qaeda. And that meant that
they were a ''threat'' to the US as well.
In fact, Armitage went on to add,
both these terrorist groups were also a threat not only to Pakistan, but
to Musharraf himself. He told New Delhi that he had sensitised Islamabad
to this aspect. He implied, sources here admitted, that India could perhaps
give some more breathing room to the General to curb terrorism in the wake
of PM Vajpayee's ''statesmanlike'' peace initiative to Pakistan.
''It's a fact that Pakistan has
arrested 500 terrorists, six of whom intended to harm US interests. This
is a great aid in our war against terrorism... It is not my job to give
assurances, it is not my job to tell our Indian friends what I think. It
is for India to make up her own mind what she thinks about that particular
statement.''
While acknowledging the acts of
terror in J-K, Armitage restricted its application to atrocities committed
against civilians. New Delhi has always included the attacks on combatants
as terrorist acts.
''The fact remains that innoncent
people - women and children - and non- combatants are being killed (in
J-K). One has to call that terrorism. But I leave it to India to speak
for themselves. From our perspective, all violence must end,'' Armitage
said.
The MEA spokesperson later made
it known that Armitage had been told Pakistan was selective in clamping
down on terrorism by acting against some terrorist groups. But he said
India stil hoped that Islamabad would act soon on its promises.
''There have been proclamations
and declarations even before but these have not been translated into reality.
We will judge by what Pakistan does, not what it says. But every season
is a new season. The PM has extended a hand of friendhip and we hope Pakistan
responds by ending cross-border terrorism and dismantling the infrastructure
of terrorism.''
And Armitage departed saying he
was ''cautiously optimistic'' that the process initiated by the PM would
lead to a "step-by-step" resolution of differences between India and Pakistan.