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| Most militarised is J&K LoC | | Fullblown cross-border raid isn't realistic option | | POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, JULY 24: International community--United States in particular--has again started building pressure on New Delhi and Islamabad to join hands to accomplish two vital targets--to eliminate terrorism and to carry forward the India-Pakistan peace process. Efforts to bring about a rapprochement between the two nuclear states assume signifcance in the context of discussion in some politcal circles over the two choices New Delhi has in the aftermath of the July 11 bomb blasts--to make war or wage peace.
First option will be highly dangerous. And the second option will require courage and conviction. Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, should avopid emulating his predecessor, Atal Behari Vajpayee's mobilisation in the wake of the Islamist terrorist attack on Parliament.
Despite the verbal fusillade at Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's inability to rein in jihadi elements, few believe a fullblown cross-border raid is a realistic option. Unlike the Bharatiya Janata Party, which made zero-tolerance against terror the bottom-line before they agreed to activate the Kashmir peace process, the present Congress-led coaliton government at the Centre does not have the stomach for war.
So far, it has not shown an ability to drive a hard bargain. Militarily, no hit and run air strike will go unchallenged by the Pakistan Air Force. A commando raid overland outflanking the militant camps is impossible. The Line of Control (LoC) is the most militarised "border that is not a border" in the world. Also, the camps on the India-Pakistan border are no more than housing for the mujahideen.
What India seeks is the brains behind the terror blasts, not its foot soldiers. There is another crucial difference. Atal Behari Vajpayee had the bodies of five militants, indisputably card-carrying members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, as proof, after the terrorist attack on Parliament. Manmohan Singh could get neither the G8 nor the United States to condemn Pakistan because he did not have enough information.
But as investigations gather momentum, and the sleuths connect the dots, Manmohan Singh will arrive at one of two obvious conclusions. The culprits are restless militants seeking to end the peace track which, should it succeed, makes them irrelevant; or they are sponsored by inter-state elements, punishing Indian Prime Minister for his foot-dragging on Kashmir, at backing off at the very last minute over an agreed formula on withdrawal from the Siachen-Saltoro heights and demarcation of Sir Creek, while innovative carrots such as self-governance and autonomy in Kashmir remain just that-- carrots.
Gen. Musharraf has his own limitations. It is clear he simply cannot discount the huge constituency that exists for peace with India, and the pressure from Washington to stay true. Hence, the address to the nation to deny involvement in the terror attack, the offer to help given "evidence" and "proof" which came up against Delhi's predictable rebuff-- evidence given in the past has not been acted on.
It is equally clear that most Pakistanis believe Gen. Musharraf has abandoned the cause of the Kashmiris by giving up the route of the UN resolutions that call for a plebiscite. Pakistan's President has probably heeded the MORI opinion poll conducted some years ago that underlined the ordinary Kashmiris' disinclination for merger with Pakistan and a marked weariness over 15 years of a fruitless insurgency. His military advisers have warned against opening up two fronts simultaneously.
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