US sidesteps Indian concerns on cross-border terrorism
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had to be satisfied with a certificate of good conduct for his support to America's war against terrorism, reports Venkat Parsa
New Delhi, November 10
The much-touted Indo-US ties apparently failed to take off to the starry heights that the Vajpayee establishment had aimed at. While India failed to wrest any concrete assurances on Indian concerns on cross-border terrorism and had to make do with a good conduct certificate in the form of a US Senate resolution, Pakistan demonstrated its high-profile role as the emergent frontline ally of the US and its newfound clout.
The US-India Joint Statement on Saturday, issued after the first-ever summit meeting between Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and US President George W Bush at the White House in Washington, contained no reference to India's concerns over cross-border terrorism fomented by Pakistan in Kashmir. India, for its part, earned a conduct certificate of sorts by way of the US Senate resolution applauding India for the support to the US war effort. This was very much in keeping with the Four Rs of former US President Bill Clinton - restraint; renunciation of violence; respect for the Line of Control (LoC) and resumption of dialogue. It virtually equated India with Pakistan, making no discrimination between the perpetrator and victim of terrorist violence.
For the Vajpayee government, which had staked its prestige on Indo-US relations, it comes as a big setback. India's long, lonely battle with terrorism, the Vajpayee government claimed, had been joined by the US, after the September 11 attacks in the US. Far from it, the US has not shown even a modicum of accommodation of Indian concerns - not even in formally banning the Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Toiba.
Reasons are not far to seek and are directly a fallout of Washington's new engagement with Islamabad in the fight against Taliban in Afghanistan. However, officials feel that India and the US gave a new dimension to bilateral ties by expanding defence cooperation and establishing a New Strategic Framework (NSF). Even as part of that framework, the US will only seek renewed backing for the New Missile Defence (NMD), which the world seemed to reject but only India unreservedly backed up to the hilt.
Comparisons arise naturally with Pakistan as Indian foreign policy projections appear to be made through the prism of Pakistan. In any such comparison, it appears that Pakistan seems set to gain enormously by way of an economic and a military package, including a possible resumption of sale of F-16 fighter planes suspended in the 1980s, when the US Congress had blocked the delivery of the fighter planes after the sales transaction was concluded. For India, such a development could have serious implications for national security. Clearly, the F-16s, like the B-52 bombers and Sabre jets in the past, were all used only against India.
Clearly, Prime Minister Vajpayee did not even articulate India's concern over the possible resumption of US arms supplies to Pakistan, which would directly be targeted only against India. It was at least expected that India articulate concerns on a possible revival of US-Pakistan military alliance, which could adversely impact India.
What India did get is a reiteration of the K-word and the mandatory advise to resume dialogue and "peacefully resolve" the Kashmir issue. A White House spokesperson said, "The US President believes it is very important for both parties to engage in a peaceful dialogue, to have a peaceful resolution of any of the disputes involving Kashmir."
As an offshoot of discussions in the field of India-US cooperation on counter terrorism, Union Home Minister L K Advani has been invited to visit Washington for talks. Anti-terrorism and interdiction assistance would be enhanced. India and the US would also pursue policies to enhance the mutually beneficial and growing economic and commercial ties and to expand the Bilateral Economic Dialogue (BED) to broaden cooperation in areas of energy, environment, export controls, space and science and technology. |
