The New York Summit

13
129

Singh got what he wanted

Nawaz Sharif after a weeklong sojourn abroad is back in Islamabad to the usual grind of being the prime minister of Pakistan, where the crisis created as a result of steep hike in petroleum prices and electricity tariff has snowballed in his government’s face.

Trying to achieve mutually exclusive objectives of not further burdening the already hapless common man and meeting the IMF conditionalities at the same time, the PML-N government seems to be clueless. Similarly despite getting a mandate from the APC held early last month there is no visible strategy in place to initiate a dialogue with the TTP.

In a 24/7 news cycle Sharif meeting his Indian counterpart only last Sunday in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, is already old news. Nonetheless the meeting was a watershed not necessarily to improve relations between the two South Asian neighbours but by virtue of putting Pakistan on notice.

Pakistan has been told to keep the LoC (Line of Control) in Kashmir incident-free. The onus is on Islamabad to prove its peaceful intentions and that it is not the enfant terrible of the region, as painted by its estranged neighbour.

Manmohan Singh did not mince his words about Pakistan during his stay in New York. On three different occasions before he met Nawaz Sharif he labelled Islamabad as “the epicentre of terrorism”.

While meeting the US President he repeated his lament requesting Barack Obama to restrain Pakistan. Despite this obvious provocation Sharif met Manmohan Singh along with an unnecessarily large retinue of ministers – all smiles and double handshakes.

It is interesting to note that in the past New Delhi has always rejected any moves for third party mediation with Islamabad. Owing to its peculiar interpretation of bilateralism, it is particularly allergic to the US playing any overt role to bring the two nuclear powered neighbours closer.

Not to hurt Indian sensibilities, President Obama meticulously avoided meeting Nawaz Sharif. Some time ago New Delhi had conveyed to Washington that meetings with Indian and Pakistani leaders should not be lumped together.

The Indian point of view was implicitly accepted. When the US Secretary of State John Kerry visited New Delhi a few months back, he studiously avoided visiting Islamabad to touch base with the newly-inducted government.

It was privately conveyed that this was not meant as a snub to Pakistan but was in deference to the Indian wishes. Kerry did visit Islamabad a few weeks later. Similarly Obama met Singh but chose to invite Sharif to Washington later this month.

Apparently it is a misconception that Manmohan Singh is a lame duck prime minister, it transpires now. Indian general elections are still six months away. And six months is a long time in politics.

Of immediate concern for the Congress led UPA coalition is to win the elections in four of the states due soon. It will be a miracle if it can just hold on to the two where the UPA already is in power.

When the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee visited Islamabad to attend the 12th SAARC Summit in 2004, he was just a month away from announcing general elections. Yet as a result of successful talks with his host Musharraf, Islamabad Declaration was signed which was termed “as a model of high-minded diplomacy”, by Michael Krepon, the co-founder of the US based think tank, The Stimson Institute.

Hence now just because Manmohan Singh is in the twilight of his term, lack of progress in the New York parleys on bilateral issues important for Pakistan cannot be condoned. The Indian side merely concentrated upon reviving a mechanism at the level of DGMOs (director general military operations) of the two armies to stop incidents on the LoC and to bring to book perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack. They got what they had wanted.

As if to assuage public opinion at home our spokesman while briefing the media after the meeting (and after the Indian spokesman had already said his piece) disclosed that issues such as Kashmir, Sir Creek and alleged Indian interference in Balochistan were also discussed. Shiv Shankar Menon, the Indian national security advisor, however rejected any Indian intervention in Balochistan.

It is interesting to note that the Indian side simply refused to follow the usual practice of holding a joint briefing after such meets. In this way not only New Delhi was successful in giving its own spin to the parleys, it was also able to dominate the news cycle with its peculiar interpretation of events.

No timetable has been set for resumption of the stalled composite dialogue on contentious issues closer to Islamabad’s heart. Obviously it has been made amply clear that progress is contingent upon the success of the renewed mechanism to monitor incursions on the LoC. And of course the onus has been placed on Islamabad to deliver on that score.

Notwithstanding who is the perpetrator, Pakistan is liable to be blamed even for an indigenous incident in Indian held Kashmir. Similarly the so-called non-state actors in Pakistan, ensconced in our badlands, will have double incentive to upset the apple cart on the LoC.

New Delhi simply cannot outgrow the perception that such incidents take place with the encouragement if not actual connivance of the Pak Army. The South Block – the home of the Indian MEA (Ministry for External Affairs) – maintains, and the Indian top brass echoes the mantra that in Pakistan the army calls all the shots.

No doubt the military in Pakistan is the most important stakeholder. And the democratic principal of civilian control over the armed forces is yet an elusive dream over here. Nonetheless Pakistan is a functioning democracy – a fact arrogantly rejected by the so-called biggest democracy in the world.

An Indian army commander has alleged that the Pakistani troops might be involved in an ongoing battle in the Indian held Kashmir. This is less than a week after the New York meeting between prime ministers of the two countries. Déjà vu: we will see more of the same in days to come.

Sidebar:

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif chose to stay at the luxurious Palace Hotel in Manhattan where a suite starts from no less than $10,000 for a night. Previously president Zardari would reside at Barclays Intercontinental, perhaps equally expensive. Why our leaders cannot lead by example by staying at the PIA owned Roosevelt Hotel also located on Madison Avenue? Maybe because it is less luxurious and somewhat dilapidated!

The writer is Editor, Pakistan Today.

13 COMMENTS

  1. Ha Ha ha

    Hooooorrr choooopoooooo "democracy" (rule of sharif clan

    I jst hope he F–ks this nation reallly goood this time

  2. They,the Indians did not get what they wanted.They wanted peace at LOC so that they can think of talks.The LOC incursions have continued with a vengeance at record level.so they finally they got what they deserved,a kick at the back.There was no point holding talkls with a non functional govt..Even their president has told them so in recent interview.

    • We do not need your ears, the opening on either end of you will suffice and you will not feel any discomfort.

      • If you do not need his ears, to whom are you complaining, medressah educated jehadi ??? Why can't you stop making a mockery of yourself ?

  3. Pakistan has turned out to be a bad family in the neighborhood, whose family members fight within as well as outside their home and the head of the family gives justification like, "We too are victims of their (non state actors) rash behaviour". Such things don't work in a 'Mohollah' nor do they work internationally.

    • There is clear evidence that India is directly involved in causing terrorism in Pakistan on a much larger scale than it is accusing Pakistan of. Innocent people are being butchered through Indian sponsored suicide bombings and terror incidents regularly. They are supporting Taliban factions and BLA terrorists through their 13 so called diplomatic enclaves set up in Afghanistan for this purpose. Simultaneously, they are beating drums around the world about Mumbai and other incidents. India never misses a chance to openly accuse Pakistan of terrorism. Some may call it a mature approach but I disagree as our leaders only go to an extent to say that we have evidence that foreign hands are involved in terrorism in Pakistan. This is an utterly dangerous game India is playing which is going to boomerang in their faces once coalition forces leave Afghanistan in 2014.

      • India need not to spend its resources of you …you Pakistanis are naturally violent and extremists by nature. Why Osama chose Pakistan ? Because he has best friends here. Why US did not inform PAkistan before taking Osama out ? Because they do not trust your sincerity. Violence & duplicity comes naturally to you try to solve all problems through violence and blood shed. This is what you did in erstwhile East Pakistan that resulted in dis membership of your country. The people carrying out attacks in Pakistan are those whom you trained to take on India and Afghanistan and now they are exploding in your own backyard. Wait for NATO withdrawal in 2014…all your calculations will boomerang in your face. Not only not you will not have your proxies ruling Afghanistan, entire Pakistan will become Afghanistan..so give-up your dreams of treating Afghanistan as your colony. Yes, we don't mind your parading in streets with your Islamic bomb.

    • From your pic you appear to be the gender in the middle or some one from that Mohalla where your kind looks for WORK. Life must be tough.I suggest move over to a state where your kind is acceptable.

      • Top, people may look whatever but when you will learn to argue sensibly ? Why all your intellect is invested in how people look ? and using all those epithets ??? are you intellectually so bankrupt ?

  4. Well did i not call the UN the tea club. The PM findia and the freshly crowned PM of Pakistan for the third time met, called each other names but agreed to disagree on almost every thing and disagreed to agree to hold a press confrence to clarify. Period. The circus will continue at other venues. Foreign affairs and foreign travels are so nice for the journalists who accmpany the PM who holds three portfolios at the same time.

    • Indian PM did not use any invective for your PM…I wonder why even educated Pakistanis like you twist the facts.

  5. india believes in state terrorism so does not need any proxies to fight. a country with such a huge poor, downtrodden population will soon perish under its own burden. hw munmohhan begging 2 obama wz a treat 2 watch.

Comments are closed.