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Wednesday, June 13, 2012

India can’t simply wait for America to deliver on Pak, War on Terror, NewAgeIsam.com

War on Terror
India can’t simply wait for America to deliver on Pak
By Vikram Sood

Pakistanis once again showed an impeccable sense of timing and disdain. They had just "won" the Swat battle, launched with great fanfare and huge hidden costs just ahead of President Asif Ali Zardari’s visit to Washington. A grateful West, desperate for some success story, then burst into adulatory gestures and found new reasons to ply their ally with even more funds. Saeed’s release was lost in the din of this praise. Besides, the release happily coincided with the visit to Pakistan by Richard Holbrooke, who dismissed the release as an "internal matter" of the Pakistanis. This has been a favourite escape route, used by many previous administrations whenever they wanted to cover up Pakistani transgressions.

In contrast, India’s sense of timing has been appalling. One day after Saeed’s release amid the usual round of angry reactions and sound bites, reports started circulating that India was about to resume the long-suspended dialogue with Pakistan. Everyone knew that pressure by the United States on India had abated only temporarily and that it would resume soon after the elections. It was also generally understood that the dialogue would be resumed after Pakistan had given India some satisfaction on issues relating to terrorism. One does not know who worked out this brilliant spin for the resumption, but it reflects poorly on our sense of timing and tactical wisdom. To say that we are not under anyone’s pressure and yet say the dialogue will resume prior to Hillary Clinton’s visit, so that she does not pressure us, only means we have wilted even before the heat has been turned on. The other reason put forward — that this would hopefully enable Pakistan to rein in its jihadis and prevent another Mumbai-type attack — can only be called supplication by a would-be major power to a failing state.

http://newageislam.com/india-can%E2%80%99t-simply-wait-for-america-to-deliver-on-pak---/war-on-terror/d/1454


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