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| Talk but keep guard high | | |
Once again the security equations within Jammu and Kashmir and the concerns along borders areas are up for fast change. The infiltration from Pakistani side of the divide into Jammu and Kashmir is on the rise and the security agencies say that more are planning to sneak in. No civilized society in world would recommend a concentrated presence of troops in the civilian areas but the emerging situation does not permit lowering guard. India cannot reduce deployment of soldiers along its border, whatever Pakistan’s insecurities might be. The threat of infiltration of terrorists into Kashmir appears to have multiplied and India cannot afford to lower its guard at this juncture. There is no doubt that dialogue with Pakistan is necessary. But it should be revived at a time it serves the peace process, not because the US or any other country wants it to. Concern has been mounting in India that the United States, in pursuit of its own goals in Afghanistan-Pakistan, is expecting India to put its own interests on the back-burner. It is believed that the Barack Obama administration is pressuring the Indian government to revive the deadlocked peace process with Pakistan and improve ties with that country, so that Islamabad can concentrate its energies on the war on terrorism along its western border. India had suspended the composite dialogue with Pakistan soon after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November, arguing that peace talks were meaningless when sections of the Pakistan government continued to support terrorist acts in India. It is to pressurise Pakistan to act against the accused in the Mumbai attacks and to take steps against the terror infrastructure that India suspended bilateral talks. Pakistan has blamed the deteriorating relations with India for its inability to support the war on terrorism along its western border more vigorously. Indian analysts say that this has prompted the US to pressure India to go in for dialogue with Pakistan to reduce the latter’s concerns over tensions along the India-Pakistan border. US envoy to Afghanistan-Pakistan, Richard Holbrook has sought to clarify that his recent Delhi trip was not to push for an India-Pakistan dialogue. Seeking to underscore the importance of Indian co-operation for the success of Obama’s AfPak strategy, Holbrook said that India, Pakistan and the US face a common enemy. Indeed, they do. Terror outfits like the Lashkar-e-Toiba that target India are a threat to the US too, just as India cannot afford to ignore the threat posed by the Taliban. The problem is that the US has not treated outfits like the LeT with the same seriousness that it does the al-Qaeda and the Taliban. There are strong links between these outfits. So eliminating al-Qaeda must go hand in hand with eradicating the LeT. The US and Pakistan should stop picking and choosing the terrorists they will target and those they will tolerate.
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