Author: Editorial
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: May 21, 2008
It's absurd to talk to Pakistan now
But for evidence to the contrary, the UPA
Government's astonishing faith in "building trust and cooperation"
with Pakistan could have been dismissed as nothing more than the touching
naïveté of the uninitiated. What makes the Government's decision
to despatch Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee to Islamabad to carry forward
the bogus 'peace dialogue' doubly dubious is the timing of the visit. Pakistan
has been repeatedly violating the ceasefire agreement along the Line of Control
with Pakistani Rangers firing indiscriminately at Indian patrols and posts;
at least two jawans have been killed in the unprovoked firing. More ominously,
the firing is aimed at providing cover to jihadis trying to sneak into India.
The massacre in Jammu bears evidence of Islamabad's intentions. That apart,
it is clear that Pakistan is no longer willing to honour the ceasefire agreement
reached in November 2003. It is a measure of the UPA Government's weak-kneed
policy that rather than respond to this violation in an appropriate manner,
it has chosen to seek 'peace' with the aggressor. Second, the ghastly slaughter
in Jaipur should have served the purpose of convincing any Government sensitive
to national interest that Pakistan continues to promote jihad in this country
and, to that extent, cross-border terrorism remains an instrument of Pakistani
state policy, irrespective of the regime in Islamabad. To suggest, as the
Prime Minister is given to slyly suggesting, that we should continue talking
to Pakistan even as it foments violence in our country, is an absurd proposition.
Third, the coalition Government in Islamabad, headed by Prime Minister Yousuf
Raza Gilani of the Pakistan People's Party, is tottering. Mr Nawaz Sharif
has signalled that the Government's collapse is imminent and unless he has
his way, which appears improbable, Pakistan's tryst with democracy would suffer
yet another jolt.
Seen against this backdrop, Mr Mukherjee's
assertion that the "new democratic environment" in Pakistan will
help address various issues related to "peace, stability and economic
development" sounds utterly hollow. Indeed, when he meets Pakistan's
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Wednesday, there's little that he
can achieve apart from exchanging pleasantries and extracting false promises.
On Tuesday, India's Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and his Pakistani
counterpart, Mr Salman Bashir, discussed terrorism, Jammu & Kashmir and
"various confidence building measures" while reviewing the fourth
round of dialogue. If truth be told, such discussions at this point of time
are not only futile but also ill-advised: It amounts to no more than a dialogue
of the deaf, with Pakistan refusing to listen to India's concerns and India
failing to comprehend Pakistan's sinister doublespeak. Curiously, Mr Mukherjee's
visit to Islamabad comes in the wake of the US Administration urging India
to talk to Pakistan and Mr Gilani meeting President George W Bush at Sharm-el-Sheikh
in Egypt. Are we then to believe that there is more to the visit than meets
the eye? It is entirely possible that the Americans want us to legitimise
the current regime in Islamabad, which is on a life support system, and strengthen
Mr Gilani's position. But should we accept this responsibility and carry the
can for somebody else?