The CCNS decision

May lead to more CBMs with India

On numerous occasions in about five years since Mumbai there were signals that the ice was breaking between Pakistan and India, only for the relations to become tense again. The meeting between the prime ministers of the two countries in New York in September on the sidelines of the annual UN General Council meet this year had inspired hopes that remained unfulfilled. It was decided that the two DGMOs would meet soon to investigate the cross-border firing to ensure that there was no recurrence of these incidents in future. The meeting failed to take place over the next three months while more serious incidents took place on the LoC, further ratcheting up tension between the neighbours.

With the US-led NATO troops scheduled to leave Afghanistan at the end of 2014, Pakistan, India and other regional countries need to develop an understanding regarding the post withdrawal scenario. There is a need to ensure that Afghanistan does not once again turn into In a staging ground for terrorist attacks inside neigbouring countries. This will not only hit Pakistan badly but India too will not remain secure for long. An unstable Afghanistan could in fact cause problems to the entire region. While the US hopes that either Karzai or his successor will sign the bilateral security agreement, paving way for the retention of 8,000 to 12,000 US troops in Afghanistan till 2024 for training and support purposes, there should be little ground for smugness on account of a mercurial and unpredictable Karzai.

The Cabinet Committee on National Security (CCNS) in its first meeting on Tuesday directed the ministries of foreign affairs and defence to take measures that could contribute to making the neighbourhood peaceful. The first step in the direction would be stabilising peace on the LoC and the working boundary. The seriousness of the directive will be adjudged from the efficiency shown in further improving the bilateral ties which is crucial for the security of both the countries. With the TTP leadership spurning the government’s offer for talks, a reluctant Islamabad might be left with no option but to remove a fairly large body of troops and military assets from the Pak-India border to the Western marches. The decision by the CCNS to tighten security in tribal areas could in fact be the first move in that direction. This would require improved ties and further CBMs with India.