Author: Editorial
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: February 6, 2010
URL: http://www.dailypioneer.com/234151/Meaningless-dialogue.html
UPA embarks on another misadventure
In end-November last year, Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh, while waxing eloquent on the need for good relations with
Pakistan forged through dialogue, had ruefully admitted that there was nobody
in that country with whom purposeful talks could be held. Between then and
now, the mess in Pakistan has further worsened and the so-called civilian
Government looks miserably crippled and clueless in the face of relentless
jihadi assault. With the country being virtually blown up bit by bit as the
Islamist barbarians prepare for the final putsch, neither the Pakistani Government,
such as it is, nor the Army can be said to be in command of the situation.
Yet, Mr Singh has amazingly revised his opinion and decided that his Government
should re-start the dialogue process which had come to a halt after the 26/11
terrorist attacks on multiple targets in Mumbai. Hence the offer of resuming
talks that has been made to the Pakistani Government in what is clearly a
sudden turnaround in the UPA's declared policy: Till the past week, Minister
for External Affairs SM Krishna had been steadfast in ruling out any structured
dialogue at the moment. Are we then to assume that the initiative is entirely
that of the Prime Minister and does not reflect the collective wisdom of his
Council of Ministers? Which in turn would raise the question: Is the capitulation
at Sharm el-Sheikh being taken to its logical conclusion? After all, Mr Singh
had made a solemn promise to Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani at
Sharm el-Sheikh that his Government would 'delink' talks from terrorism -
in other words, he would not insist that Pakistan abandon its policy of promoting
cross-border terrorism and crack down on state-sponsored terrorist groups
like the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba before the resumption of the stalled dialogue process.
That declaration by Mr Singh had fetched him rebuke from his own party and,
faced with national outrage, he had sought to allay fears of a sellout by
bizarrely insisting the joint statement actually meant the opposite of what
it said. The then Foreign Secretary, Mr Shivshankar Menon, who had helped
draft the statement and later blamed the fiasco on "bad drafting",
is now the National Security Adviser. Curiously, the move to carry forward
the shameful Sharm el-Sheikh agenda comes within days of his appointment as
NSA.
Pakistan's response has been along expected
lines. The Foreign Office in Islamabad has insisted on the resumption of composite
dialogue on all issues, including Jammu & Kashmir. Mr Gilani, just to
let Mr Singh know where Pakistan stands, has addressed a huge rally of Islamist
radicals and putative jihadis, and promised that support for separatists would
continue. In a mocking, taunting tone, Mr Gilani has let it be known that
Mr Singh's offer of talks follows "world pressure" - what he means
is American pressure. Instead of India drawing the red lines, it is Pakistan
which is setting the agenda for our pliant Prime Minister to embrace as policy.
It is India's tragedy that instead of using 26/11 to its advantage and talking
to Pakistan from a position of strength, we are now seen as suing for peace
on the aggressor's terms. If we have squandered the advantage, the blame must
squarely lie on the UPA Government, more specifically, the Prime Minister.
His ill-advised move to resume talks with Pakistan is not backed by the nation;
the vast majority of India rejects this craven concession.
