Author: Our Political Bureau
Publication: The Economic Times
Date: May 17, 2002
US Ambassador, Robert D Blackwell,
today called on the Union home minister L K Advani, amid clear indications
that the latest terrorist outrage in J&K may have severely undermined
America's leverage with India.
Emerging from the meeting, Mr Blackwell
was unusually taciturn and confined himself to 'echoing' US president,
George Bush's condemnation of the Tuesday massacre. He underlined that
both his President as well as the US assistant secretary of state, Christina
Rocca, had termed the killings as handiwork of terrorists.
Pre-September 11, this formulation
would have been deemed satisfactory by the Indian establishment which tried
hard to counter the "freedom struggle spin" Pakistan puts on the killings
of innocent civilians by jehadis. Now, however, India wants the US to move
beyond stating the obvious and lean on Pakistan to rein in jehadis.
With the US unable to tighten the
screws on Pervez Musharrafs regime, India's patience has worn thin. What
has contributed to New Delhi's reservations is the US' willingness to take
Pakistan's disclaimers - on issues such as infiltration -at face value.
The strains were also indicated
by the government's refusal to let Ms Rocca meet the defence minister George
Fernandes. The US official who had arrived on a peace promotion mission
had to acknowledge that the Jammu massacre had frustrated her plans.
India, which went out of the way
to accommodate US concerns that a Indo-Pak war could jeopardise the latter's
war against Al Qaeda, feels it is time the Americans reciprocated.
