HVK Archives: Seizing the Initiative
Seizing the Initiative - Times of India
Editorial
()
6 June 1996
Title : Seizing the Initiative
Author : Editorial
Publication : Times of India
Date : June 6, 1996
The Pakistani Prime Minister's felicitatory message to
Prime Minister Deve Gowda - in which she offered to sit
across the table and discuss the settlement of Jammu and
Kashmir and all other issues - provides just the
opportunity to test Ms Benazir Bhutto's sincerity:
whether, in fact, she has shed her known allergy to a
summit meeting with her Indian counterpart. The Indian
response must be positive in confomity with our standing
offer to discuss Kashmir and all other issues with
Pakistan. Though it was not India which spoke of
conditionalities in the first place, we should accept the
offer and even go the extra mile. The new Prime Minister
needs to settle down in office before preparing himself
for a meaningful summit with Ms Bhutto who,, on the other
hand, has been dealing with the Indo-Pakistani issue for
years. As head of India's first genuine coalition
government, Mr Gowda has also to adopt a consensus
approach to the issue. Therefore, as a first step, India
could offer an immediate series of talks at the level of
the foreign ministers, and hold a second round if
necessary. India could also ask Pakistan to stop all
trans-border terroristic activities as a demonstration of
its goodwill towards the summit. Though Pakistan does
not acknowledge its role officially, such a step will
lend credibility to its professed interest in a dialogue.
After all, Ms Bhutto did claim credit for having made a
similar gesture in Punjab to oblige Rajiv Gandhi.
The responsibility for the impasse in Indo-Pakistani
dialogue rests to a significant extent with the Indian
leadership which had been adopting, as in all other
fields, a totally reactive strategy. The January 1994
parleys between the foreign secretaries were not followed
up by further initiatives by India. Nor has India
utilised the improvement in the ground situation in
Kashmir, the hostage-taking by AI Faran and the recent
CNN interview of Ms Bhutto ruling out an open conflict
between India and Pakistan and convince the world that
there is no Cashpoint in the Indian sub-continent. Yet
another handicap facing the Indian diplomats and
politicians is the absence of an authoritative
compilation of the developments in Kashmir and other
issues involving Indo-Pakistani relations, including the
nuclear issue. That would have ably demonstrated to the
world that it was Pakistan and not India which had
failed to implement the first two steps enjoined in the
U.N. resolution of August 1948. That would have also
shown that the issue of Jammu and Kashmir encompasses the
entire area of the former princely state now under the
control of Pakistan. The lack of a proactive foreign
policy, absence of systematic documentation,
personalised ad hocism and intensitivity to public
relations both at home and abroad are primarily
responsible for the Indian inability to effectively put
across its case on Kashmir.
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