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| India in an advantageous position, can set things right in Kashmir – II | | MINCING NO WORDS | |
NEHA
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Feb 22: The economy of Pakistan, too, is in a shambles. The moment the United States withdraws its support to Pakistan its whole edifice would crumble in no time. And, the United States can do it anytime, notwithstanding the fact that the United States does not Pakistan in its fight against terrorism in Afghanistan. The relations between the two countries have over the period got rather strained. The reason: The United States believes, and rightly so, that it is only exploiting the United States’ difficulties in Afghanistan and not actually cooperating in the war against terror.
The issue of Raymond Allen Davis, an American diplomat posted in Pakistan and presently in Pakistani custody on the charge of murder, has further soared the relations between Islamabad and Washington D.C. The American administration wants Pakistan to grant immunity to Davis and send him back to his country. Pakistan, which is under tremendous local pressure, has refused to grant immunity to Davis. It has given the argument that since the case is in the court, it will be the court that would decide the fate of Davis. Right now, the mood in Pakistan is rabidly anti-US. The situation in the US is no different. The Obama administration, too, is under tremendous local pressure. Even otherwise, the US is what it is. Washington D. C. has warned Islamabad in unequivocal terms that it would have to face serious consequences in the event of Pakistan not handing over Davis to the US administration and the serious consequences could be no aid whatever to Pakistan.
The situation has climaxed to the point that the furious Obama administration has suspended high level dialogue with Pakistan, cancelled the proposed tri-nation summit between US, Afghan and Pakistani leaders on February 24. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has refused to meet her Pakistani counterpart. The other major events which may face a freeze could be President Asif Ali Zardari’s visit to Washington in March, following the summit and the next round of US-Pakistan strategic dialogue.
Trouble, demonstrations and revolts in several Muslim countries have further created a critical situation for Pakistan, which has all along tried to become leader of the Muslim world. The situation in Saudi Arabia, which Pakistan’s very close ally, could also assume alarming proportion. The massive protests in China on Monday against the Chinese administration may further add to the woes of Islamabad, which – apart from depending upon the United State and the countries like Saudi Arabia – has always found in Beijing its trusted and tested ally, notwithstanding the fact that it is jeopardizing its own sovereignty in the process. Both Islamabad and Beijing have joined hands against India and the objective of both countries is to weaken the Indian position on the northern frontiers, which are of great strategic importance to India.
The fact of the matter is that bulk of the Muslim world is in serious turmoil. No body knows what would happen. It’s a state of uncertainty. In such a situation, it would not be really possible for the countries like Saudi Arabia to come to the rescue of Pakistan, which is heading towards a rock. If the situation deteriorates further in China with the dissatisfied Chinese coming on the roads in large numbers, Beijing, too, would find it difficult to extend support to Pakistan to the extent Islamabad would want in case of need. The situation in the US is also very not encouraging for Pakistan for the simple reason that Washington D. C. today is not that powerful as it used to be not-so-long-ago. President Barack Hussain Obama is becoming unpopular with each passing day. The economic health of the US is also bad. The situation has reached a stage where Obama has to appeal to India to help him create 50,000 jobs in his country.
It is rather disturbing that New Delhi has, instead of making optimum use of the situation in Kashmir, Pakistan, the United States, China and the bulk of Muslim world, has decided to return to Sharm-el-Sheikh and resume the composite dialogue process with Pakistan ignoring its solemn commitment held to the nation that it would restart the dialogue process only if the culprits of the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks were brought to justice. Till the other day, the stand of New Delhi was that dialogue and terrorism could not go hand-in-hand. And, right now, its stand is that dialogue cannot be held hostage to that one incident which took away fore than 160 innocent lives. It’s no statecraft. The need of the time was to exploit the situation to its advantage and set things rights in Kashmir. But it appears that New Delhi has neither the capacity nor the will to take on those fighting against the Indian State and seeking another partition of India on purely religious ground.
“This is the way the world ends, not with bang but with whimper.” (Concluded)
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