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Keeping up the pressure

Leavening the surcharged atmosphere between Pakistan and India somewhat are the assurances that have emanated from the leadership of both countries that neither wants war. The Mumbai terror attacks by ten professionally trained men of Pakistani origin represent the gravest provocation to the Indian state in decades. It is a challenge with socio-political implications that are difficult to sidestep, especially given the public anger and frustration that built up after a sma ll band of terrorists seemed to hold India’s might at bay for more than 60 hours. Further inflaming the situation have been the war-mongering calls, the over-the-top demands that the Indian Air Force should undertake precision strikes across the border on sites believed to harbour the terrorist camps. That the civilian leadership of Pakistan, which immediately after the Mumbai attacks responded positively to India’s deep sense of anguish, went into denial mode under pressure from the military represents a deeply regrettable setback to bilateral relations. Further, by refusing to accept the reality that India has solid evidence that the lone surviving terrorist in its custody, Ajmal Amir ‘Kasab’, and his dead colleagues are Pakistan nationals, the democratic regime in Islamabad is undermining its own credibility and moral authority. Its latest gambit that Ajmal’s nationality is not proven is pathetic, devoid of rationality, and unsustainable even in the short term.

It is time President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, who have both repeatedly emphasised that Pakistan was a victim of such terrorism, took sincere steps to accept India’s demands and bring to justice those identified as the masterminds and conspirators behind the Mumbai attacks. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s reasoning that the terror strikes have kept recurring because the “puppet masters” have been assured “immunity from prosecution” is unimpeachable. What the democratic regime in Pakistan needs to realise is that, given the gravity of the latest affront to the Indian state and the public mood in India, the Manmohan Singh government has shown exemplary restraint. It has relied on diplomatic and political methods and refused to succumb to the pressure of chauvinists and hardliners for a militaristic response. India has a solid case under various United Nations Security Council resolutions to insist that Pakistan live up in letter and spirit to the comprehensive anti-terrorism obligations mandated for all states. By persevering with a strategy of being firm but restrained and building international and bilateral pressure on Pakistan to accept its inescapable responsibility, India’s moral authority and effectiveness will only be enhanced.

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