Much has been said about India’s policy towards Pakistan in the recent days. If I were the Indian Foreign Minister, this would be my take on the subject. India has always been a peace-loving country. That is considered as one of the reasons that foreigners have been able to easily conquer and rule us be they the Mughals or the British.
I am not saying that India should be overly aggressive like some of our neighbours. At the same time, we cannot have a utopian approach while dealing with Pakistan. Pragmatism is the need of the hour. As our present Foreign Minister, Mr. S.M. Krishna himself said that India will have a graduated dialogue with Pakistan; we cannot sort out all the issues at once. We could first start dealing with the easy issues (are there any?) and then move on to difficult ones.
The civilian government in Pakistan may really want peace. But it is common knowledge that the ISI and the military rule the roost and peace is not what they want. So what the Pakistani President , Prime Minister or Foreign Minister want does not matter at all. They ultimately have to dance to the tunes of the Army and the ISI and indulge in aggressive anti-India posturing in accordance of the wishes of the real bosses.
In this kind of situation, how does it make sense to attempt dialogue? Of what use is talking with puppets? What we are actually doing is overlooking their anti-India policies, making concessions hoping that this time things will work out and obliging the US which funds and backs Pakistan in spite of all the mischief it plays.
This kind of attitude is suicidal to India. Whenever attempts are mad to chalk out a peace process, some event happens or is made to happen to derail all the efforts made. When Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was in India for talks in November 2008, the Mumbai terror attack happened. A few days ago, when SM Krishna went to Pakistan a big hue and cry was raised over Home Secretary GK Pillai’s remarks on Pakistan which were perfectly true. It is said that Gen. Kayani ensured that the recent talks had no positive outcome.
And in spite of everything they do, if we keep agreeing to talks, aren’t we showing ourselves as weaklings? It is like we are telling them – you can hit us anywhere, anytime; we will bear with it as we want to make peace with you. Years ago we granted MFN (Most Favoured Nation) status to Pakistan for the purpose of trade. They have never reciprocated, though this year they have given some hope of the MFN status being granted to India.
Our honourable Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, a peace-loving man wants to mend fences with Pakistan. This will not happen without a sea change in their attitude and it doesn’t look probable that this will happen any time soon. Successive prime ministers of India have tried to forge new ties with Pakistan, but we all know the results. When I.K. Gujral was our Prime Minister he went to the extent of dismantling the RAW network in Pakistan which has proved detrimental to India’s interests. Vajpayee indulged in bus diplomacy with Pakistan and was rewarded with the Kargil war.
Don’t mistake me; I am very much for peace with Pakistan and its people. But from past experience and knowledge of the present situation, I am fully aware that the talks will not culminate in anything fruitful. I do not want to waste my time and the country’s resources.
Author: Pratibha Shenoy (Bangalore)
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