We only want to talk about Kashmir and the Samjhota incident. The Indians only seem to want to talk about Pakistan-based militant outfits. The flexibility: we can let go of our heavy tilt towards the whole Kashmir thing in exchange for a well-rounded composite dialogue that will include Kashmir, amongst other things. The Indians, on the other hand, couldnt be bothered, really. Basking in the glow of rising eminence in the international economic arena, the Indian diplomatic corps has some leeway in how to go about things.
Now the west keeps accusing us of having a smoke-and-mirrors approach to the war against terror and attributes it to our Indo-centric defence paradigm. One way of resolving the situation, then, is for the government to seek US mediation on the issue; for the US to use diplomatic leverage, not overtly, to get the Indians on the table. But even if the US were to do that, given by how India did not react in all the ways she could have after the Mumbai attacks, they are a notch up even on the whole responsibility scale.
All this calls for some proactivity. It has to be said that we havent been able to effectively tackle the militant outfits based in the Punjab. In fact, better relations with India are a secondary or tertiary reason for a crackdown on these shadowy outfits. That our very social fabric is at risk of being torn asunder by the obscurantists is reason enough. But political expediency by all political parties, specially those of the centre-right, rather than distancing themselves from these, refuse to even cease patronising the political wings of these groups. The Indians, on the other hand, need to realise the tough spot the Pakistani political government is in and cut it some slack. It is hoped that the foreign secretaries of the two countries, who are meeting in Thimpu, make a sustainable bit of headway.
