Author: Editorial
Publication: The Free Press Journal
Date: June 19, 2003
There is a drift in Islamabad's
mood. All the upbeat peace talk has given place to a tougher attitude.
Musharraf admitted that Pakistan regulars fought in the Kargil war and
there is no certainty that another Kargil would not emerge. To say that
this indicates the Pak habit of two steps backward after taking one step
in right direction is to state the obvious. What has impelled the general
to indulge in a reckless piece of rhetoric? Is the general not aware of
the collateral damage he had inflicted on the peace process? Or is it a
deliberate attempt to extract more goodies from President Bush, if the
US wants him not to scuttle the peace track?
The most probable reason may be
something else. The general is facing a lot of trouble in the national
assembly, in the frontier states and from the mujahideens. Musharraf has
not been able to discipline the ISI who is bent upon implementing its agenda.
Hence Musharraf's truculence on the Kashmir front. The group of MPs from
Pakistan who preached and joked peace and raised visions of normalcy through
people-to-people contact are welcoming their opposite numbers from India
right now. Perhaps there can be a slight improvement in the atmosphere
when the two respective high commissioners take up their post in each other's
capital.
However, Musharraf is, in contradicting
the Indian interpretation of his words, repeating what he has stated about
a repetition of Kargil-like operation. He thinks that it is only a statement
of fact. There is no guarantee that Pakistan and India will not fight a
fourth war. To which Prime Minister Vajpayee has responded in a like manner.
Vajpayee thinks that Musharraf is forcing his country to face a fourth
defeat. The Prime Minister has added that Pakistan is resorting to a new
type of war in killing innocent citizens in India, whether it is in Kashmir
or Gujarat or Delhi. This proxy war must end before the two countries take
the first step towards a peace dialogue.
Pakistan may point out that in most
of the speeches delivered by L.K. Advani during his foreign tour, he has
targeted Pakistan. And in his meetings with Bush and Blair, he has confirmed
that the source of terror that the two countries are fighting originates
from the same source as India is facing. And yet Musharraf is going to
meet Bush with great expectations of considerable economic and military
aid as a reward for his role in fighting terrorism. Many things, including
the pace of Indo-Pak peace talks, would depend upon the view that the US
takes of Musharraf's activities.
