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| PM's undisclosed scheme did please | | MusharrafMechanism on terorism won't be productive, warns Satish Chandra | | B L KAK
NEW DELHI, OCT. 1:
Satish Chandra, India's former High Commissioner to Pakistan, Satish Chandra, has warned that in the absence of any "genuine" desire on the part of Pakistan to cooperate on terrorism the proposed India-Pakistan anti-terrorism institutional mechanism is doomed to failure. The Musharraf-Manmohan Singh decision, as encapsulated in their Havana joint press statement to put in plance anti-terorism institutional mechanism, Satish Chandra says, "is amazing given Pakistan's longstanding and continuing involvement in terorist activities directed against India".
That Pakistan intends to continue using the terror card against India is, to quote Satish Chandra, borne out by its unwillingness to hand over the 20 terrorists sought by New Delhi including the Jaish-e-Mohamed (JeM) founder, Azhar Masod, and Hizbul Mujahideen supremo, Salahuddin, to wind down terorist outfits like the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), JeM, Hizbul Mujahideen etc., and to prevent the infiltration into India of hundreds of Pakistani terrorists.
"This negativity is reflected in the Pakistani spokesperson's recent statement making a distinction between terrorists and those 'asociated with the freedom struggle', and arguing that the proposed instituional mechanism does not talk about handing over people by either side or exchanging lists of wanted persons", Satish Chandra, who has also served as India's PR to the UN in Geneva and Deputy National Security Advisor, has placed himself on record as saying. He is of the firm view that the establishment of the instituional mechanism "will be counter-productive because, on the one hand, sensitive intelligence shared on this net will be used against us, and on the other hand , the world would see us as partners against terror".
It is, therefore, no surprise that Gen. Musharraf, according to Satish Chandra, "swiftly squashed" Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh's assertion that the proposed instituional mechanism was a 'test' for Pakistan by aserting that it was a test for both countries and that he had also "some observations about interference" in Pakistan. Chandra says: "Whether or not Manmohan Singh gave Musharraf a non-paper, he obviously made proposals when pleasded the latter (Musharraf) greatly".
"This alone can explain as to why, in his joint press conference with Bush, he (Musharraf) termed his meeting with Manmohan Singh as 'excellent', that it constituted 'a step forward' towards resolution of disputes between India and Pakistan and that the two sides were moving on the Kashmir dispute especially", adds Satish Chandra. Manmohan Singh, whilst speaking to the media on his flight back from Havana, went to the extent of stating that Gen. Musharraf and he had "agreed" to find a "via media" between India's stand that borders could not be redrawn and Pakistan's position that it was not prepared to accept the Line of Control (LoC) as a permanent solution.
"This is nothing short of a sell-out", says Satish Chandra, adding: "Apart from being a stark departure from the Parliament Resolution of February 2, 1994, which inter alia called for vacation of aggression by Pakistan from PoK, it contemplates something less than the status quo on J&K for India".
Satish Chandra states in no uncertain terms: "While Musharraf. in givng in to US demands, exacted at least some tangible benfits, both for himself and his country, our sell-out comes at the cost of irreparable erosion of our case on Kashmir and weakening of our ability to address Pakistani directed terrorism against India". |
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