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Pakistan on notice

While eschewing harsh rhetoric, India has unequivocally put Pakistan on notice that it will be difficult to continue with the process of détente unless cross-border terrorism is brought to an end. The Ministry of External Affairs did not, at least publicly, attribute any reason for putting off the Foreign Secretary level talks scheduled for July 21. This was a marked departure from the approach in favour prior to 2004 when New Delhi would try to put Islamabad in the dock on every provocation. Instead, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh preferred to articulate this country's misgivings in terms of a realistic assessment of the fall-out of atrocities such as the serial blasts in Mumbai. As spelt out by Dr. Singh, détente can help the two countries achieve their developmental potential but the process will reach its limits and go into decline if the stock of public goodwill in India gets eroded by further acts of terrorism aided and abetted by forces from across the border. Noteworthy as well was Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran's firm denial of any desire to have Pakistan labelled as a guilty party in any terrorism-related statement that may be issued at the G-8 summit. The message is unambiguous. India remains committed to resolving all disputes with Pakistan through bilateral negotiations but not at any cost. Islamabad will have to live up to the commitment it gave in January 2004 that it would not permit the territory under its control to be used as a recruitment-centre, training ground or base for operations by terrorist outfits.

Officials as well as opinion-makers in Pakistan do not appear to have really tuned in to India's nuanced approach. At one level, they have accused New Delhi of making allegations without evidence even though they know that the international community as a whole is less than satisfied with Islamabad's counter-terrorism record. At another level, they believe that India is trying to side-step talks on the contentious issues and is only interested in confidence-building measures. This critique makes little sense to those who are not caught up in the game of one-upmanship between the two countries. The proposal that confidence-building measure should be put in place to create the right atmosphere for a dialogue on the more difficult issues did emanate from New Delhi. But can anyone deny that Pakistan too stands to benefit from measures taken to facilitate travel and improve the prospects for trade? It might be possible to reach agreement on some of the issues, the Siachen dispute for example, if an extra effort is put in. However, can India's supposed foot-dragging be an excuse for not delivering on the counter-terrorism measures that Pakistan needs to take in its own interest? President Pervez Musharraf almost became the victim of a terrorist attack on two occasions. These near-misses should have made him realise that it is not possible to distinguish between terrorist outfits. Groups threatening India's security now can easily morph into outfits that undermine Pakistan.

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