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| Hina wants result-oriented talks on J&K | | Pro-Active, Not Reactive | | Rustam
JAMMU, Nov 7: Talking to reporters in Lahore on Sunday, Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar explained her country's stand on Jammu and Kashmir and reflected on what Pakistan has gained out of the ongoing talks between India and Pakistan at various levels. She informed reporters that the "country (Pakistan) has achieved much more than was expected during the dialogue process" and made it abundantly clear that Islamabad believes in a pro-active, and not in a reactive policy. "The cornerstone of our foreign policy is to develop friendly relations with our neighbours and we believe in a proactive, and not a reactive policy," Khar told reporters. She also added that "Pakistan army is a 'stake-holder' in the dialogue process with India". The bottom-line of her interaction with the reporters was that Pakistan could take cudgels with any country, United States included, for the protection and promotion of her geo-political interests in the region, including the ravaged but strategic Afghanistan.
What Khar told reporters was self-explanatory. Suffice it to say that she only reiterated the Pakistani age-old stand on the Indian Jammu and Kashmir. This was not really important in the sense that Pakistan has since its inception always considered Jammu and Kashmir as part of the "unfinished agenda of partition". Everyone in India knows what Pakistan has been doing to finish this "unfinished agenda". What was important was her assertion that "we (Islamabad) believe in a proactive, and not a reactive policy" and that "we are for result-oriented dialogue with India". That means Islamabad would never ever address the Indian concerns and, instead, continue to bleed India with a thousand-cut in order to produce the result - merger of Jammu and Kashmir with Pakistan.
Equally significant was her assertion that "Pakistan Army is a 'stake-holder' in the dialogue process with India". There was no ambiguity in any of her formulations. In fact, she made a categorical statement that the Pakistani political establishment and the Pakistani Army are on the same page as far as the Indian Jammu and Kashmir is concerned and that Islamabad would accept only that solution that is acceptable to the Army. In other words, she cleared all the cobwebs of confusion and told everyone that the institution of Army in Pakistan determines the country's foreign policy and that the Pakistani political establishment is there in Islamabad simply to give effect to what the Pakistani Army dictates to it.
Compare the Pakistani foreign policy with the Indian foreign policy and see for yourself the difference. New Delhi has no foreign policy at all. Those who are controlling the Indian Foreign Office and managing relations with Pakistan are weak, meek and ambivalent. They have no clear-cut stand on Jammu and Kashmir. They have forgotten the February 1994 resolution on Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan. They do sometime make some noises, but these noises are so feeble that no one takes them seriously. With the result, Islamabad is always on the offensive. New Delhi could have called the Islamabad's bluff, but it never any such attempt. New Delhi has at no point of time during the last 22 years or so adopted a pro-active approach. It has always reacted and that too under public pressure.
The fact of the matter is that New Delhi has never reacted in the real sense of the term even when the provocation had been very, very grave. One can refer to scores of instances to prove this point. It would be reasonable to say that those controlling the Indian Foreign Office and managing our foreign affairs do not know anything about statecraft. That it is so could be seen from the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's oft-repeated statement that "neighbours cannot be changed but borders can be rendered irrelevant; just a line on the map". The only silver-lining is that our Army and a section of bureaucracy have been discharging their obligations towards the nation to the best of their ability. Left to the Indian political leadership, it could barter the country's paramount interests anytime. It is simply interested in vote-bank politics. The BJP leadership is no exception. The Indian political leadership has already caused enough damage. The statement of Khar that "country (Pakistan) has achieved much more than was expected during the dialogue process" proves this point.
Will the Indian Foreign Office live up to the expectations of the nation and redesign its policy towards Pakistan and Jammu and Kashmir taking into account the cardinal principles of statecraft? It is very difficult to answer this question. The reason is that the one who has been leading the country since May 2004 is someone who appears determined to accommodate Pakistan and the Kashmiri secessionists and communalists. Besides, the memory of what Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in the presence of his Indian counterpart SM Krishna last year is still fresh in our mind. Qureshi had equated the then Indian Home Secretary GK Pillai with Hafiz Saeed, Lashkar-e-Toiba chief. Similarly, the memory of what Krishna said in New Delhi after his disgraceful return from Islamabad continues to linger in our mind. Krishna had accused Pillai of vitiating the atmosphere on the eve of the Foreign Minister-level talks between India and Pakistan. But these are only three of the several similar other instances which show that the South Block, which houses the Prime Minister's and Foreign Minister's offices, is just incompetent to take on and defeat Islamabad using diplomatic skills. |
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