NEW DELHI, July 9: India has urged the United States and Britain to mount more pressure on President Pervez Musharraf to help rein in armed militants in Kashmir instead of rewarding Islamabad with an enviable largess of about $8 billion, Indian newspapers said on Tuesday.
“As British foreign secretary Jack Straw prepares to come here within a fortnight, South Block (foreign ministry) made it clear that the credibility of the international community will be in question if it fails to make Pervez Musharraf stick to his promise to stop infiltration,” The Telegraph newspaper said.
The newspapers said Mr Straw is scheduled to arrive on a day’s visit on July 19. He will hold wide-ranging discussions with the Indian leadership, which includes foreign minister Yashwant Sinha and national security adviser Brajesh Mishra on developments in the region, particularly the military standoff and the heavy deployment of Indian and Pakistani troops along the border.
The British foreign secretary, like the Americans, wants Pakistan to stop cross-border infiltration, the newspaper said. “But while they have been stressing on the point publicly, in private, both the UK and the US have been trying to convince the Indian leadership to find a way to break the deadlock in its relations with Pakistan.”
One way to do that, according to the western powers, is to take steps towards de-escalation — both diplomatic and military — and return to the talks table at the highest political level with Islamabad.
“Delhi has noticed this shift in the stands of London and Washington. And to put it mildly, is not amused,” The Telegraph said.
It quoted India’s new foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal as telling the international community on Monday that it should “sustain its pressure on Pakistan to end terrorism and infiltration permanently.”
He argued that any wrong interpretation of the commitment given by Gen Musharraf would give him the alibi he needed to continue to promote infiltration across the LoC.
At a round-table conference on Indo-US relations organized by the CII business club, Sibal stressed that it was important for the credibility of the international community to keep up the pressure on the Pakistan President to honour his commitment.
Referring to remarks made by Washington that Gen Musharraf should tackle that part of the problem of infiltration which was under his control, the foreign secretary said: “That is not the commitment he has given.”
“If interpreted in this way, it will give Musharraf a lot of room to play with ambiguities, allow him to continue the policy pursued in the past and say that the terrorism that occurs is outside his control. This would give him the alibi he needs.”
Sibal also described the travel advisories issues by the US and some other countries asking their nationals to defer visits to India as a “total disconnect”. The travel advisory was seen as another attempt by the West to create pressure on India to de-escalate and normalize relations with Pakistan. Though it has been criticized often in private over the past weeks, this is the first time that a senior Indian official has flayed it in public.—J.N