The Hindu Business Line : The `feel good' in foreign policy

Not just at home, the Government wants "feel good" on the external front too. Leading the list of "achievements" in foreign policy is undoubtedly the entente the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, has achieved with the Pakistani President, Gen Pervez Musharraf. But it would be premature to count our chickens before they are hatched vis-à-vis the concerns on terrorism, says G. Parthasarathy.

Militants at a training camp in Pakistan... Is it too early to rejoice about a drop in cross-border terrorism?

IT IS inevitable that in any democracy headed for elections, the ruling dispensation spares no effort to ensure that the electorate "feels good" as it prepares to cast its vote. Politicians of all hues suddenly cultivate the average voter, who perhaps never got to see his Member of Parliament since he last voted for him! He is showered with economic lollipops and told how much has been done for him and the country since he last voted. This is precisely the phenomenon we are now witnessing.

The Finance Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, has effected sharp reductions in Customs duties, the rural population has been promised a whopping Rs 50,000 crore for the development of rural infrastructure, the elderly are being given attractive pension schemes and the middle-class is to find it much easier to deal with its income-tax returns.

As we already have an unduly high Budget deficit, there is little doubt that the first two years of the new government will be spent in raising new taxes, once we have all cast our votes, if all these "feel good" promises are to be fulfilled!

While tax and spending sops are inevitable, it is now obvious that the Government also intends to cash in on a "feel good" factor on foreign policy also. There is perhaps good reason for the Government and even Indians in general to be satisfied on this score. Leading the list of "achievements" in foreign policy is undoubtedly going to be the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee's visit to the SAARC Summit in Islamabad and the assurance he received from the Pakistani President, Gen Pervez Musharraf, that Pakistan would not allow territory under its control to be used for terrorism. But apart from this, there is much that the Vajpayee Government can be pleased about.

The country today is respected abroad more than ever before, primarily because India is no longer an economic basket case dependent on foreign aid. The Indian economy is amongst the fastest growing in the world today. India's military strength, backed by a nuclear deterrent, is growing. Even as the Non-Aligned Movement is becoming increasingly irrelevant, India has been able to devise new partnerships in forums such as the WTO, while building a closer relationship with the US. Finally, India is now actively involved in negotiations that will integrate its economy much closer with the those of Asean and SAARC, laying the basis for it to become a key player in an emerging Asian Economic Union. Even when he was Foreign Minister in 1977-1979, Mr Vajpayee never feared to acknowledge respect for a Nehruvian world-view.

While these are factors that the country can be proud of, it would be premature to claim that we have achieved any "breakthrough" in the war against terrorism. The Pulitzer Prize winning American journalist Jim Hoagland perceptively noted that the agreement to recommence the dialogue process with Pakistan was one between a "shrewd" Indian leadership and a "desperate" Pakistan, that is facing international condemnation as a source of jehadi terrorism and for irresponsibly transferring nuclear weapons technology to countries such as Iran, Iraq, Libya, Saudi Arabia and North Korea. The entire agreement with Gen Musharraf is premised on Pakistan ending its use of terrorism as an instrument of state policy and dismantling the infrastructure of terrorism built by the ISI. Gen Musharraf's assurances on ending support for terrorism are nothing new. He had given such assurances to the US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, and his deputy, Mr Richard Armitage, in 2002. India's Army chief, Gen N. C. Vij, has revealed that there are still around 80 terrorist camps functioning on Pakistani soil and in PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir).

The ISI infrastructure for promoting terrorism in India is not restricted to Jammu and Kashmir. Nor is it based only on Pakistani soil. It is no secret that even today there are a few score residual Khalistani terrorists still resident in Pakistan, including figures like Wadhawa Singh, who leads the banned terrorist outfit "Babbar Khalsa International". An elaborate infrastructure to incite and fan separatism amongst Sikh pilgrims visiting their holy sites like the Nankana Sahib, under the leadership of the virulently anti-Indian former ISI Chief General Javed Nasir remains active. Pakistani Diplomatic Missions in Western countries augment these efforts by inciting misguided Indian expatriates.

It would be no surprise if the three terrorists accused of assassinating Chief Minister Beant Singh, who escaped from jail recently in Chandigarh, find safe havens in Pakistan. The ISI is also actively involved in fomenting separatist violence in our north-eastern States. Leaders and cadres of outfits such as the NSCN and the ULFA have visited and received training in Pakistan. The ISI finds the Khaleda Zia Government in Bangladesh a willing ally in such activities. There is a growing tendency in recent years for the ISI to incite misguided Indian Muslims resident in countries such as Saudi Arabia through cadres of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, to resort to terrorism. Further, even while its links with the notorious " D Company" continue, the ISI uses our open borders with Nepal to smuggle in terrorists and counterfeit Indian currency.

In keeping with the understanding reached between Mr Vajpayee and Gen Musharraf, the composite dialogue process is scheduled to commence shortly. India should have no hesitation in proceeding with this dialogue at the level of Foreign Secretary. It will give an impression of being chary of a dialogue on Kashmir if it hesitates or prevaricates on this issue. But, our negotiators would be well advised to make it clear to their Pakistani counterparts that our concerns regarding Pakistani sponsorship of terrorism are not confined to Jammu and Kashmir alone.

Sadly, misinformed and over-enthusiastic sections of our media have given the impression that India seeks a Kashmir settlement based on converting the Line of Control into the international border.

This has led Gen Musharraf to proclaim: "The LOC cannot be a solution. We have fought wars on it. How can a dispute be made a solution?" The unanimous Indian Parliamentary Resolution of 1994 declares the whole State of Jammu and Kashmir as an integral part of India. This has to be the starting point of any talks of J&K, as we attempt to meet Pakistani ambitions "halfway".

More important, we have to achieve substantial forward movement on enhanced people-to-people contacts and in normalising trade and economic relations, if we are to create a political climate, in which complex issues like Jammu and Kashmir can be realistically addressed.

Thus, while we can certainly "feel good" at the better atmospherics that now prevail in our relations with Pakistan, it would be premature to count our chickens before they are hatched, on our concerns on terrorism.

(The author is a former High Commissioner to Pakistan.)

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