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| Avoid in-house contradictions | | | Indian intelligence and security agencies had been able to confirm beyond an iota of doubt that the Mumbai terror attacks originated from Pakistan soil. Two and half months after the attack –the biggest in history of independent India –while Pakistan continues to be denial mode, India appears to be losing the only war it had waged against terrorism –the war of words. From war hysteria to no war and open debates run through media, instead of taking a solid step the top Indian functionaries are now indulging in their own contradictions. It is a matter of serious concern that even on important issues like the handling of terrorism and relations with other countries there are differences between senior government functionaries and these are aired in public. The statements of National Security Advisor M K Narayanan on Pakistan’s response to India’s dossier on the Mumbai terrorist attack and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s rebuttals have not done the government any good. While Narayanan said that Pakistan had posed some questions about the evidence India had provided, Mukherjee clarified that there was no response from that country yet. They have also differed on the issue of “non-state actors.” The country and the international community would be at a loss if there are such divergent voices emanating from the government. The external affairs minister is the authorised person to state the government policy on matters involving relations with other countries and Narayanan did not have to talk out of turn. His own effectiveness as the NSA had come under a question mark after the terrorist attack and it is unfortunate that he has not been restrained from expressing unwarranted opinions. If the differences are a reflection of a turf war between the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), to which Narayanan is attached, and the ministry, it is still worse. There has to be coherence of policy across all departments of the government, especially when the government is trying hard to convince the world of the need for action to root out terrorism at its origin. Ministers also have not been very consistent in their views. Mukherjee has in the past blown hot and cold on Pakistan. Home Minister P Chidambaram had last month mentioned the possibility of India breaking off ties with Pakistan. The statement was not appropriate, coming as it did from the home minister. He has now clarified that he was only expressing his thought process and not the government policy. But a senior minister need not articulate his subjective ideas in public, and the confusion should not have been created. Handling terrorism which has international ramifications calls for co-ordination between the Prime Minister’s Office, the external affairs and home ministries and indeed other departments and agencies. A diversity of approaches and multiplicity of views can only do harm to the interests of the country, internally and externally.
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