NEW DELHI, Sept 19: Attempting a delicate balance in South Asia on Thursday, the world’s leading architects of the anti- terror war ruled out any move to isolate Pakistan in the campaign simply because of India’s desire, while the United States thought more could be done to check cross-border infiltration in Kashmir.
Representing India’s point of view in this jumble, Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishan Advani, a Hindu Sindhi migrant, said the right to self-determination backed by Islamabad in Kashmir would not be acceptable to Pakistan if the demand was raised to free Sindh.
Ironically, it was former minister Ram Jethmalani, a Hindu Sindhi himself, who recently backed the legitimacy, if not the expediency, of the concept of self-determination as applied to Kashmir.
British Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, in Mumbai on Thursday, strongly resisted “isolating” Pakistan in the international coalition against terrorism, saying the recent arrest of Al Qaeda activists in Pakistan showed that different nations could make important contribution in fighting the menace.
“Talking of isolating a country is too much to handle a problem like this,” Prescott was quoted by the Press Trust of India as telling reporters during a public function to honour the British minister.
“Reacting to suggestions that Indian leaders have been expressing scepticism about the success of global war against terrorism with Pakistan in the coalition and advocating the cause of isolating Pakistan, he said ‘even recent arrests showed that different nations can make substantial contribution in fighting terrorism’,” PTI said.
Prescott, who received Priyadarshani Award in Mumbai for his contribution towards improving global environment, said he had a very “fruitful” round of one-to-one discussions with his Indian counterpart, Advani.
Refusing to divulge details, he said the talks were “very fruitful” and was glad that Advani, in his speech at the award ceremony, favoured dialogue to resolve the bilateral problems with Pakistan.
But Advani’s speech was familiar and offered no new insights into New Delhi’s approach to Pakistan.
“India was ready for a dialogue with Pakistan, only if the neighbouring country agreed to dismantle the ‘terrorist infrastructure’ and did not merely restrict itself to assuring a ban on infiltrators into India,” PTI quoted Advani as telling the meeting to honour Prescott.
Advani said a dialogue between the two countries would prove futile, if Pakistan continued supporting training centres for militants, pumping of funds for what he described as terrorist activities, and providing shelter to militants.
“India was ready for talks with Pakistan only if the latter was determined and willing to give up its support to terrorist activities in India”, he told reporters after attending the function organized by the Priyadarshini Academy in south Mumbai.
“It was not enough for Pakistan to assure its co-operation in fighting terrorism by merely assuring the western world that it would stop infiltration into India”, the deputy prime minister who is also India’s home minister said.
“This would amount to clipping only one part of terrorist activities, which was definitely inadequate,” he claimed. “Though the level of infiltration had dropped after the assurance to the western world, the number of infiltrators entering India had increased dramatically before the elections in Kashmir,” he said.
“The real test of Pakistan’s determination in eradicating terrorism is its willingness in dismantling the current terrorist infrastructure,” Advani said.
Advani favoured talks with Pakistan to resolve bilateral problems saying “it will be in the interest of both Pakistan and India if they come together as sovereign powers, as those in Europe did, and pool their resources for the benefit of both”.
“I look forward to such a day,” he exuded optimistically recalling his association with his birthplace Karachi amid thunderous applause from the audience, mostly “uprooted” Sindhis from undivided India, PTI said.
Referring to the much talked-about issue of self-determination, Advani said self-determination based on geographical unity and cultural similarity might lead to “balkanization” and “fragmentation” of such states.
“Taking a dig at Pakistani diplomats and leaders over their repeated demands for right to self-determination in Kashmir, Advani said, can Pakistani leaders imagine a situation where Sindhis of undivided India demand right to self-determination,” PTI said.
Advani said, while the international community, including US and UK, have realized the threat perceptions of terrorism since Sept 11 last year, India has been “at war against terrorism for last 15 years”.
“War is going on, it is a covert war, wherein we have lost 50,000 lives,” he said slamming Pakistani-sponsored nefarious activities in Kashmir and other parts of the country.
BLACKWILL: Meanwhile, US Ambassador in New Delhi, Robert Blackwill, said cross-border infiltration into Kashmir appeared to have gone up. He, however, lauded the first part of the four- stage controversial polls in Kashmir.
“Infiltration across the Line of Control was down in June and July, but since the end of July, it has gone up and in our judgment it increased in August and September,” Blackwill told a group of journalists in Delhi.
In Islamabad, a foreign office spokesman was quoted as rejecting Blackwill‘s comment, maintaining that no infiltration was taking place into Jammu and Kashmir.
Blackwill said President George W. Bush in his talks with President Pervez Musharraf in New York last week emphasized that he must keep his commitment and stop permanently cross-border infiltration across the LoC.
“We expect infiltration from across the LoC to end,” the US envoy said.