Mishra proposes India-Israel- US anti-terror alliance

Author: Chidanand Rajghatta
Publication: The Times of India
Date: May 9, 2003
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=45887154

India's National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra has proposed an alliance between the United States, India and Israel, among other democratic countries, to meet the threat of terrorism.
 
In an address at the American Jewish Community Annual Dinner here on Thursday, Mishra said such an alliance would have the political will and moral authority to take "bold decisions in extreme cases of terrorist provocation" without being distracted by diversionary arguments like "root causes."
 
Preventive measures like blocking financial supplies, disrupting networks, sharing intelligence, simplifying extradition procedures can only be effective through international cooperation based on trust and shared values, he added.
 
The idea of a Washington-New Delhi-Tel Aviv axis against terror is not new, but it is the first time it is being proposed so openly and formally. While doing so, Mishra spoke of the "fundamental similarities" between India, the United States and Israel, including their democratic system, sharing a common vision of pluralism, tolerance and equal opportunity.
 
"Stronger India-US relations and India-Israel relations have a natural logic," India's foreign policy principal, who is in Washington for talks with top US officials, told the Jewish movers and shakers. Mishra also announced at the dinner that New Delhi hoped to receive Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon soon in India on an official visit.
 
Mishra's anti-terror proposal came even as US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage wound up his day long visit to Pakistan and headed to Kabul en route to New Delhi.
 
Mishra met Armitage in transit in London before his discussions here on Friday with his US counterpart Condoleeza Rice and Secretary of State Colin Powell, who in turn is meeting India's Foreign Minister Yashwant Singh during transit in Moscow next week as part of the continuing Indo-US dialogue.
 
From all accounts, the dialogue appears aimed at walking Pakistan back from the path of extremism to a more reasoned approach to the issues in the sub-continent.
 
In interviews with two Pakistani networks and a press conference, Armitage, who joked that he was a son of a policeman and therefore not inclined to firefight, rejected a plethora of Pakistani proposals while praising Islamabad's "magnificent cooperation" in the war on terrorism, leaving his hosts in little doubt about which way Washington was going in the ongoing spat between India and Pakistan over Kashmir.
 
Among other issues, Armitage said the US had no roadmap to resolve the Kashmir problem, that it was best dealt bilaterally, and there could not be any artificial timeframe for the resolving the tangle. There had been an excited babble in Islamabad on all three counts during the past week.
 
Armitage also dismissed General Musharraf's push for denuclearisation and no-war pact in South Asia saying "I think something like that is quite a bit down the way, in terms of confidence-building measures. There are more immediate issues."
 
He also didn't think any new US resolutions on the issue would be helpful, and that while Kashmir may be the core issue for Pakistan, looked at it from India's perspective, Islamabad's unrelenting hostility toward India is the core issue for India.
 
Armitage also gave some indication that Washington disagreed with Pakistan's "Kashmir first" policy, saying "if the atmosphere is improved on both sides on a lot of other issues, then clearly Kashmir would be able to be discussed rationally and reasonably."
 
He skirted a pointed question about international observers on the LoC to check infiltration, saying the most effective mechanism is the degree of confidence between Indians and Pakistanis.
 

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