The Hindu : An onerous responsibility

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 08, 2004

Opinion

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An onerous responsibility

By Amit Baruah

ISLAMABAD JAN. 7. Pakistan and India have taken on an onerous responsibility to address their differences. The joint press statement issued by the two sides on Tuesday has fundamentally altered the political landscape in both countries.

The process of reversing the deterioration in India-Pakistan relations began with the April 18, 2003, speech of the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and was followed up by a telephone call to Mr. Vajpayee from his counterpart, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali.

The stage for the Islamabad meetings between Mr. Vajpayee and the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, as well as between Mr. Vajpayee and Mr. Jamali, was set by a series of confidence-building measures and the Id-ul-Fitr ceasefire.

The quiet contacts, which the two sides had been careful not to publicise, have now been confirmed both by Gen. Musharraf and the National Security Adviser, Brajesh Mishra. These, clearly, have allowed the formal composite dialogue to "commence" next month.

Interestingly, the word used in the joint press statement is "commence" and not "resume". This could indicate that a new process, at a somewhat different level, is being contemplated by the two sides. Both countries have, however, clarified that the "level" of the dialogue has not yet been fixed.

India has been insisting on a step-by-step approach to dealing with Pakistan, but the fact is that contacts between the two countries have been resumed at the highest level. These certainly seem to have been preceded by a series of step-by-step, unpublicised contacts, crucial to the entire dialogue process.

In Pakistan, the plainspeaking by Gen. Musharraf, his new willingness to consider the Indian "list of 20" wanted terrorists and put aside divisive issues, all augur well for the process.

There is little doubt that the measures being taken against extremist elements in Pakistan culminated in the December 14 and December 25 assassination attempts on the President's life. This was dramatic confirmation that the measures against extremists were for real.

The problem for the General is that these extremists, reared by the establishment for long, retain their influence. Sifting the "good" from the "bad" in Pakistan's vast and convoluted intelligence establishment is no easy task.

The Pakistani intelligence establishment is a virtual "State within a State" and its basic inclination has traditionally been anti-India. Gen. Musharraf's new approach to India has challenged all the assumptions behind this long-held policy.

Islamabad has come to realise that terrorist networks have been able to strike at the ultimate target in Pakistan — the President and Chief of Army Staff. Further and more concerted action, as promised by Gen. Musharraf at his press conference on Tuesday, is an absolute must.

Institutionally, the Pakistani Army and the State have previously shown little inclination to change their "basic approach" towards India. Now that Gen. Musharraf has signalled a different tack, a churning process within the Pakistani establishment and among the people is likely to commence.

Overall, the people of Pakistan, are in favour of peace and good relations with India, but have been prevented from reaching out due to the suspicious nature of the country's establishment.

One clear signal that things are changing come from the factual accounts of the joint press statement in this morning's Pakistani newspapers. They are both factual and positive — unlike during Lahore in February 1999 — where they highlighted the Jamaat-e-Islami protests and the fact that Gen. Musharraf was not present at Wagah to receive Mr. Vajpayee.

There is little doubt that Pakistan and India have set their relations on course towards an improved future, in which "final solutions" to contentious issues would be discussed. The change in Pakistani thinking is to be welcomed. However, it needs to be kept in mind that the Kashmir issue cannot be buried underground for long. The General has his own compulsions and progress on Kashmir is one of them.

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