Author: Editorial
Publication: The Free Press Journal
Date: May 9, 2003
URL: http://www.samachar.com/features/090503-editorial.html
Vajpayee's hand of peace has been
welcomed in Islamabad. Pakistan has announced several follow-up steps.
Restoration of diplomatic relations (India has already proposed the name
of its high commissioner for Pak agreement), air, train and road links
are on the way. These are all essential first steps to maintain the momentum
of the peace process. Pakistan has said that it is willing to discuss all
issues including Kashmir.
Normally it is the other way round.
Even at Agra, Musharraf went on saying that once Kashmir is solved, everything
else will be automatically solved. The one sector that Pakistan has ignored
in its obsession with Kashmir is economic relations. Normal trade channels
are waiting to be opened. If normal trade between the two countries improves,
economic hardship in both the countries can be assuaged. And if Pakistan
sees the inevitability of opening normal trade routes, India's trade with
Afghanistan, Iran and central Asian countries would pick up, even as Pakistan's
trade with Bangladesh, Nepal and other countries would improve, ushering
in a sea change in the economic scenario in both the countries.
Pakistan has not said a word about
such major measures which make for normal relations. Why, even SAARC attempts
to improve intra-regional trade are being systematically scuttled by Pakistan
which has not yet given a list of exports from that country which would
enjoy tariff concessions. Amidst Pak preoccupation with arousing hopes
of normalcy as a result of a dialogue between the two countries within
a short period, that country has not said one word about curbing and ending
cross-border jehadi violence.
Which, according to New Delhi, is
the sine qua non of a dialogue for peace. No country can pursue a peace
process while fighting a proxy war with the same party. The US overtures
in this context are becoming a bit lax. The US deputy secretary of state,
Richard Armitage will be in Delhi in a day after visiting Islamabad. On
the eve of his last visit, the US almost extracted a promise from Musharraf
that he would end cross-border violations from which emerged the US stand
that the Line of Control must be respected. In the run-up to his visit
now, the US has declared Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and two other terrorist groups
based in Pakistan and operating in Kashmir as terrorist organisations.
Islamabad's insistence on proof
of their evil-doing has not cut any ice. Armitage has then balanced the
state department statement with his own annotation. Armitage has said that
he still would lean on Musharraf for ending cross-border terrorism but
there will not be any ``public rebuke'' of the Pak dictator. That is where
he stands. Which means only one thing. Armitage would exert himself to
get a dialogue started between the two countries without exerting to get
any assurance from Musharraf to end the proxy war against India. To say
that the spirit in which Vajpayee made the peace gesture should continue
in follow-up measures too is easy. Rigid postures on both sides should
change. Before that, terrorist killing of Indian citizens should end.What
about the handing over to India of known anti-Indian saboteurs and murderers
like Dawood Ibrahim and others whom Pakistan is harbouring in royal comfort?
