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Can we stop being obsessed with Pakistan while Pakistan is still obsessed with us?

Early in his first term, when Manmohan Singh was more accessible to the media and more willing to discuss issues

with those whose views were different from his, the Prime Minister outlined what he hoped would be his government’s policy on Pakistan.

 

   As far as he was concerned, the dispute with Pakistan was a legacy of the 20th century. An India that aimed to be a superpower in the 21st century could not afford to be obsessed with a small neighbour. China, our great rival in the region, had border disputes with its neighbours (including India) but saw beyond them.

 

   In our case, however, we had been defined for too long in our dealings with the international community by the Kashmir issue and by our problems with Pakistan. The challenge for his government, he said, was to move beyond Pakistan, to end the obsession with our neighbour and to stop spending billions on arms.

 

   As for Kashmir, the Indian state had solved so many disputes – Tamil Nadu, Nagaland, Mizoram, etc. – by dealing democratically with alienated people. Surely that experience could be repeated in Kashmir?

 

   Manmohan Singh repeated these remarks when he spoke to journos on the plane to New York on his way to his first meeting with Pervez Musharraf. When the Prime Minister met the Pakistani President he made two points. First of all, he asserted, he had no mandate to redraw the borders of India. Nor would any Indian Prime Minister in the foreseeable future. Secondly, border disputes were fast becoming obsolete. In the 21st century, borders were soft and porous. So why not find a Kashmir solution based on soft borders and regional cooperation and prosperity?

 

   A year later, Musharraf was echoing Manmohan Singh’s language. Our Prime Minister has since said that he believed that India and Pakistan were nearing some sort of understanding when the General suddenly lost power. Perhaps they were – it is hard to tell from the outside – but that understanding now seems to have disappeared.

 

   I have dealt at some length on the PM’s views because I believe they are still at the core of his Pakistan policy. It is too simplistic to see Manmohan Singh as a dove or a Pakistan lover. Rather, he believes that Pakistan should be a minor irrelevance and that the baggage of the dispute is dragging India down and preventing us from occupying our rightful place in the world.

 

   Frankly, I don’t see how anyone can disagree with Manmohan Singh. Yes, of course, it is absurd for India’s future to be held hostage to a dispute in the tiny Kashmir Valley. And who can deny that we are now in the same league as China and not Pakistan?

 

   But here’s the problem: it is not enough for us to think like that. Pakistan must also be willing to accept that a peaceful solution that does not compromise India’s sovereignty is possible. Sadly, everything we have seen over the last year suggests that Pakistan is a long way from accepting that position.

 

   Islamabad recognizes that India has a lot to gain by settling this dispute on terms that do not radically alter the status quo. But what does Pakistan gain from such a solution?

 

   At present, Pakistani policy is guided by three major factors: the jihadi threat; the need for the Pakistani establishment (politicians and army) to retain the support of its people; and the relationship with the US over Afghanistan and the war on terror (or whatever they are calling it today).

 

   All three factors work directly against the Manmohan Singh formulation.

 

   India has always believed that the terrorists who come across the border are guided by the Pakistani state. The Pakistanis say they are freelancers beyond the control of the state.

 

"We are just being used by the Americans and the Pakistanis and our genuine desire for peace is being exploited."

   The disagreement over which characterization is accurate still rages but it seems unlikely that the terrorists who are exploding car bombs in Pakistan are state actors. Rather, it seems as though the state is losing control of Pakistan. In this situation, the ISI may still be able to control the LET and a few other outfits but there is no way in which Pakistan can rein in all the terrorists it has spawned. The monster of terrorism is now consuming its maker.

 

   In these circumstances, no Pakistani government can guarantee that peace will return to Kashmir because militants will stop streaming across the border or even, that India’s cities will be free from 26/11-type attacks. If the Pakistani government can’t even secure Lahore or Karachi, how can it prevent attacks on Bombay?

 

   Nor is it clear that the Pakistani state even wants to rein in the terrorists. Elements in the state (in the army, the ISI, etc.) are delighted by the global attention paid to 26/11-type incidents and do not see how Pakistan gains if these stop.

 

   Nor does the Pakistani public believe that the terrorists who cause mayhem in the name of Kashmir are a bad thing – they treat them as freedom fighters. Moreover, Pakistanis also believe that much of the violence in India emanates not from Pakistan but from Indian Muslims who are finally fighting back after decades of mistreatment. (You and I may laugh at this characterization but Pakistan needs to believe that Muslims are treated badly in India. After all, if Muslims can live happily in Hindu-majority India, then what was the need to create Pakistan?)

 

   So, an embattled Pakistani state has nothing to gain by cracking down on those who attack India. On the contrary, it risks alienating its own people by appearing to let down the ‘freedom fighters’ and ‘poor Indian Muslims who are fighting for justice’.

 

   If you look at the chest-thumping tenor of recent statements made by senior Pakistani ministers (‘we have got India to admit its involvement in Baluchistan’ or ‘India has blinked’ etc.), they are clear indications of the desire of Pakistani politicians to demonstrate how they are standing up to India. In a situation where ministers play to the gallery, no real progress is possible in the peace process.

 

   And finally, there is the American angle. America has now recognized that the violence in Afghanistan (and the terrorism that emanates from there) will never end as long as Pakistan offers safe haven and support to the militants. (It is the same with Kashmir: no peace is possible as long as Pakistan exports terror.)

 

   The Pakistanis have told the Americans that they would like to help but domestic public opinion is deeply hostile to America. The only way they can mollify their own people is if they can say that Washington is on Pakistan’s side against India, that it will help secure Kashmiri freedom, etc.

 

   Naturally, the US cannot do all of this. But it can put pressure on India to talk to Pakistan (so that the Pakistanis can claim we blinked). That is exactly what the Americans are now doing.

 

   Given this background, how can any peace be possible? Every concession we offer (the inclusion of Baluchistan in the joint statement at Sharm-el-Sheikh, for instance) is treated as evidence of Indian perfidy. We are just being used by the Americans and the Pakistanis and our genuine desire for peace is being exploited.

 

   I subscribe to Manmohan Singh’s vision. Of course, we must stop being obsessed with Pakistan. But can we do this while Pakistan is still obsessed with us?

 

   And when that obsession is expressed through violence, murder and terrorism?
 

CommentsComments

  • Kaustubh Shukla 17 Apr 2010

    A great article. But such articles are useful only when they are read by the right people(read: the entire Indian political establishment)
    Why doesn't the Indian MEA be more bold in their dealings?
    Personally, I feel that the only way to relegate Pakistan to a vassal state status(:p) is to start independent dialogue with Taiwan. When China raises objections, ask them to stop dialogue with Pakistan!
    This will automatically relegate Pakistan to Taiwan's level!!!
    A masterstroke!

  • Sarthak Mohanty 15 Feb 2010

    The last 2 sentences of your article summarize the fact that the solution to a peaceful Kashmir will ever see the light of the day. Pakistan will never ever stop bothering us.
    Besides American angle,there also lies a China factor. Key personnel in Pakistan owe loyalty to America or to China. Prez Zardari is blessed by Washington while Army CG Kayani looks up to Beijing. And ISI functions under army. So while US pressurizes Zardari for talks, Zardari is held captive by Kayani via China.

  • Amit 15 Feb 2010

    Shobnim,
    "Why is it impossible that they are involved in the Pune blasts? "

    Because, the other theory is more plausible and less outlandish. You could have asked the same question about blasts in Lahore, etc. But then, I doubt if you could have believed it yourself. It's good to be contrarian but to act one merely for the sake of it, is sign that you need a girlfriend or are trying to get one or that you had a few too many drinks.

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