*Source: DTN News / Kashmir Herald By Sarla Handoo
(NSI News Source Info) Kashmir, India - August 8, 2009: There could not have been a more blunt and straightforward way for Dr. Manmohan Singh to bring home the point to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on how serious and painful India is about the lackadaisical attitude adopted by it with regard to the terror outfits in Pakistan targeting India. One hopes Zardari took the message. 
Kashmiri militants shout slogans during a public meeting to mark the Kashmir Solidarity Day in Muzaffarabad, the capital of the Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Around a dozen Kashmiri militant groups gathered publicly to urge Pakistan to lift bans against the Islamist organisation India blames for the Mumbai attacks and its political arm. "We appeal on the government of Pakistan to lift the ban against Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) because no Kashmiri jihadi organisation was involved in the Mumbai attacks," Syed Salahuddin, head of the militant Hizbul Mujahideen, told the gathering of around 1,000 people.
The 40- minute meeting between Manmohan Singh and Zardari in Yekaterinburg, Russia, did break the ice in the otherwise stressful relations between the two countries following the Mumbai attacks in November last. The handshake that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Zardari had on Tuesday flashed across the television screens. But how firm was the handshake and whether it would be enduring is the moot point.
The question now is will Pakistan act against the terror outfits, LeT and Jaish-e- Mohammad that are launching terrorist attacks against India from Pakistani soil?
The Indian Foreign Secretary Mr. Shiv Shankar Menon has made it clear that it is not the beginning of the dialogue process. The two leaders will meet again on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement summit at Sharma-al-Sheikh in Egypt by the end of July. In between, the Foreign Secretaries will meet to review what action has been taken by Pakistan on what Mr. Menon described as “the primary issue of terrorism” and what more can be done. The reports will be submitted to the respective governments and only after that a decision will be taken on the resumption of the composite dialogue. The blunt message which Dr. Manmohan Singh gave Mr. Zardari in his opening remarks of their meeting that followed, would obviously have set the tone for the one- on -one exchange of views. Dr. Singh made it clear that India has some expectations from Pakistan and that Islamabad has to live up to its commitment and not allow its soil to be used for terrorist activities against India, before there can be any forward movement in resuming the dialogue process. For this, Pakistan needs to take strong, effective action against the terrorist outfits focused against India, bring the perpetrators of Mumbai attacks to justice and dismantle the terrorist infrastructure within its country. Dr. Singh minced no words in pointing out that India has a strong feeling that while Pakistan has taken action against Taliban and the al-Qaeda, it is not acting against the LeT and Jaish-e- Mohammad, the outfits indulging in terrorism against India.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mohammad Qureshi may have a point when he said that it would be the “most sensible thing” to resume the composite dialogue process as it would be beneficial to both the countries and would lead to resolution of the issues. But what pains India is that Pakistan has yet to prove its sincerity in dealing with terrorism emanating from its soil against it. If that is the case, how can the issues be resolved? Until Pakistan addressed Indian concerns no amount of talks can be purposeful.
President Zardari’s plea that he has been facing problems and difficulties as he can not fight on all fronts simultaneously and therefore needed some more time may carry some weight. But, so far, he has not been able to convince India about his sincerity in dealing with terror outfits targeting India. The latest instance has been the release of LeT chief Hafiz Saeed from house arrest in the wake of a weak case presented in the Lahore High Court.
India has provided heaps of evidence to Pakistan about the involvement of Hafiz and others in Mumbai attacks. In fact, Pakistan has already accepted, after a great deal of dithering that the attacks were executed and partly planned from its soil. Despite this Pakistan has not even filed an appeal in the Supreme Court so far, though Qureshi said the Provincial Punjab government is “contemplating to do so”. New Delhi has publicly expressed its disapproval of the way Pakistan has been handling the case.
Even at the height of present tension and efforts to resume the dialogue process, Pakistan Foreign Minister is trying to equate the terrorism that emanates from Pakistan with that originating from India, the Briton and the US. He told reporters during the Russia visit that terrorism has to be condemned and fought “from wherever it emanates…India, Pakistan, UK and America.” It clearly indicates that Pakistan has yet to go a long way to come out of its mindset in not being honest in tackling terrorism on its own soil.
That the US has welcomed the Manmohan Singh- Zardari meeting as “encouraging” is quite understandable. It has always been emphasizing that the two countries need continue their dialogue to find solutions against terrorism and to promote regional peace and stability. New Delhi will like to close the channels of communications with Pakistan though bilateral relations are under “considerable strain”. The people of the subcontinent have a huge stake in peace. That holds some prospect of more talks taking place.
As the Prime Minister put it, “if Islamabad shows the courage, determination and statesmanship to take the high road to peace, India would meet it more than half way.” It is for Pakistan now to act and let the peace process move forward.
Kashmiri militants shout slogans during a public meeting to mark the Kashmir Solidarity Day in Muzaffarabad, the capital of the Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Around a dozen Kashmiri militant groups gathered publicly to urge Pakistan to lift bans against the Islamist organisation India blames for the Mumbai attacks and its political arm. "We appeal on the government of Pakistan to lift the ban against Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) because no Kashmiri jihadi organisation was involved in the Mumbai attacks," Syed Salahuddin, head of the militant Hizbul Mujahideen, told the gathering of around 1,000 people.
The 40- minute meeting between Manmohan Singh and Zardari in Yekaterinburg, Russia, did break the ice in the otherwise stressful relations between the two countries following the Mumbai attacks in November last. The handshake that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Zardari had on Tuesday flashed across the television screens. But how firm was the handshake and whether it would be enduring is the moot point.
The question now is will Pakistan act against the terror outfits, LeT and Jaish-e- Mohammad that are launching terrorist attacks against India from Pakistani soil?
The Indian Foreign Secretary Mr. Shiv Shankar Menon has made it clear that it is not the beginning of the dialogue process. The two leaders will meet again on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement summit at Sharma-al-Sheikh in Egypt by the end of July. In between, the Foreign Secretaries will meet to review what action has been taken by Pakistan on what Mr. Menon described as “the primary issue of terrorism” and what more can be done. The reports will be submitted to the respective governments and only after that a decision will be taken on the resumption of the composite dialogue. The blunt message which Dr. Manmohan Singh gave Mr. Zardari in his opening remarks of their meeting that followed, would obviously have set the tone for the one- on -one exchange of views. Dr. Singh made it clear that India has some expectations from Pakistan and that Islamabad has to live up to its commitment and not allow its soil to be used for terrorist activities against India, before there can be any forward movement in resuming the dialogue process. For this, Pakistan needs to take strong, effective action against the terrorist outfits focused against India, bring the perpetrators of Mumbai attacks to justice and dismantle the terrorist infrastructure within its country. Dr. Singh minced no words in pointing out that India has a strong feeling that while Pakistan has taken action against Taliban and the al-Qaeda, it is not acting against the LeT and Jaish-e- Mohammad, the outfits indulging in terrorism against India.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mohammad Qureshi may have a point when he said that it would be the “most sensible thing” to resume the composite dialogue process as it would be beneficial to both the countries and would lead to resolution of the issues. But what pains India is that Pakistan has yet to prove its sincerity in dealing with terrorism emanating from its soil against it. If that is the case, how can the issues be resolved? Until Pakistan addressed Indian concerns no amount of talks can be purposeful.
President Zardari’s plea that he has been facing problems and difficulties as he can not fight on all fronts simultaneously and therefore needed some more time may carry some weight. But, so far, he has not been able to convince India about his sincerity in dealing with terror outfits targeting India. The latest instance has been the release of LeT chief Hafiz Saeed from house arrest in the wake of a weak case presented in the Lahore High Court.
India has provided heaps of evidence to Pakistan about the involvement of Hafiz and others in Mumbai attacks. In fact, Pakistan has already accepted, after a great deal of dithering that the attacks were executed and partly planned from its soil. Despite this Pakistan has not even filed an appeal in the Supreme Court so far, though Qureshi said the Provincial Punjab government is “contemplating to do so”. New Delhi has publicly expressed its disapproval of the way Pakistan has been handling the case.
Even at the height of present tension and efforts to resume the dialogue process, Pakistan Foreign Minister is trying to equate the terrorism that emanates from Pakistan with that originating from India, the Briton and the US. He told reporters during the Russia visit that terrorism has to be condemned and fought “from wherever it emanates…India, Pakistan, UK and America.” It clearly indicates that Pakistan has yet to go a long way to come out of its mindset in not being honest in tackling terrorism on its own soil.
That the US has welcomed the Manmohan Singh- Zardari meeting as “encouraging” is quite understandable. It has always been emphasizing that the two countries need continue their dialogue to find solutions against terrorism and to promote regional peace and stability. New Delhi will like to close the channels of communications with Pakistan though bilateral relations are under “considerable strain”. The people of the subcontinent have a huge stake in peace. That holds some prospect of more talks taking place.
As the Prime Minister put it, “if Islamabad shows the courage, determination and statesmanship to take the high road to peace, India would meet it more than half way.” It is for Pakistan now to act and let the peace process move forward.
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