dawn.com
INDIA-RUSSIA-US NEXUS ON CROSS-BORDER TERRORISM
India's new diplomatic offensive By Afzal Mahmood
TAKING advantage of the Kargil fallout, India has launched a full-scale diplomatic offensive to implicate Pakistan in what it calls "cross-border" terrorism to prevent Islamabad from extending support to freedom fighters in occupied Kashmir.
As a part of its well-planned campaign, New Delhi has initiated high-level consultations with US, Russia and other G-8 countries to formulate a joint strategy to counter the growing threat of "terrorism" across the world. During a
recent visit to Washington of two senior officials of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, discussions focussed, according to former foreign secretary J.N. Dixit, "on the dangers of ethno-religious extremism and the diversion of
terrorist mercenaries from Afghanistan to neighbouring countries like Uzbekistan, Jammu and Kashmir and even distant parts of the world."
According to Mr Dixit, who, along with former Indian home secretary Vohra, recently visited Washington and held discussions with senior US officials, members of Congress and American think-thanks, the US assessment is that about 20,000 to 25,000 Mujahideen operating in Afghanistan from various Muslim countries will form, over a period of time, the "germinating catalyst for terrorism" in different parts of the world, particularly in the Gulf and the
Western countries.
After the Washington parleys, high-level consultations were held in New Delhi on September 17 and 18 when the US coordinator for counter-terrorism, Michael Sheehan, met a wide cross-section of Indian establishment to define
"common parameters" for cooperation between the two sides. The US concern on this score was first triggered by the attack on the World Trade Centre in New York and then by the June 1996 bomb attack on its military personnel in Daharan, Saudi Arabia. Then came last year's attacks on American embassies in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salam, allegedly masterminded by Osama bin Laden from his hideouts in Afghanistan.
Washington now seems to be keen to institutionalize cooperation among states to prevent terrorist bombings. It is trying to evolve an international legal framework to punish terrorists and extradite suspects, with the right to
prosecute them in third countries. India, on its part, is making concerted efforts to highlight the threat posed by "cross-border" terrorism to international security and include Kashmir within the broad parameters of the export of
terrorism from Afghanistan.
India took full advantage of the recently held Conference for Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Almaty, Kazakhstan, to forge a regional diplomatic offensive against international terrorism to increase pressure on Pakistan. Its call for a collective counter-terrorism platform at Almaty elicited a favourable response from the Central Asian states, which have been recently exposed to the threat of Islamic extremism.
But it was the Russian foreign minister, Igor Ivanov, who, supporting a resolution that commits members to wipe out terrorism from Asia, admitted that the fight against terrorism and extremism was of the greatest concern to
Russia in view of the recent Chechen-led incursions into the Russian strategic enclave of Dagestan and the series of bomb attacks in Moscow and other Russian cities. CICA was attended by Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, China, Mongolia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Israel, India, Egypt, Turkey and Palestine.
Again, the threat of international terrorism was the focus of attention when ,b>Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, stopping over in New Delhi on his way back from the Asia-Pacific summit in New Zealand, held discussions with
Prime Minister Vajpayee's National Security Adviser Brijesh Mishra. These talks were followed by further discussions in Moscow between Indian Foreign Secretary Raghunath and his Russian counterpart, Alexander Audeev, on state-sponsored terrorism and the civil war in Afghanistan.
Though Pakistan foreign office has denied having received any message from Russian foreign minister asking Islamabad to check cross-border terrorism, the fact remains that Russian media has published reports about the presence of
foreign nationals amongst freedom fighters in Chechnya and Dagestan. A report in Izvestia says that Osama bin Laden, who had reportedly despatched 70 Arab Mujahideen to Chechnya, plans to send over 50 more guerillas from his Peshawar-based centre. Izvestia further says that it has evidence that Pakistani, Saudi, Afghan and even Burmese nationals are among the Chechen militants fighting in Dagestan.,
In order to isolate Islamabad on this issue, New Delhi is also making efforts to enlist the support of G-8 countries to evolve a common strategy against state-sponsored terrorism. In Ottawa, the Canadian foreign minister, Lloyd
Axworthy, speaking to reporters after his talks with Russian Foreign Minister Ivanov, said the time had come to hold a special summit to discuss ways to fight terrorism. According to Axworthy, the international community should formulate a much stronger response to the increasing problems posed by
terrorism.
On its part, New Delhi is losing no opportunity to blame Pakistan for any act of terrorism that takes place anywhere in India, although India has been troubled by militant-separatist or freedom-seeking movements not only in
occupied Kashmir but also in Assam, Bodoland, Gorkha-dominated areas near Darjeeling, Mizoram and some other tribal belts. However, the Indian strategy is to hold Pakistan responsible for most acts of violence and
subversion within its territory and in other neighbouring countries. It is trying to present itself as a front-line state in the battle against terrorism and a primary
target of the terrorist aggression from what it calls "Talibanized" Pakistan and Afghanistan.
In order to win American sympathy, New Delhi has now included itself in the list of countries against whom Osama bin Laden has allegedly declared Jehad. The real objective is to defame the freedom struggle in Kashmir by linking it
with the broad spectrum of what it calls "cross-border" terrorism from Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Indian propaganda cites the spread of violence into Central Asian states, including Kyrghystan and Tajikistan, developments in
the Russian strategic enclave of Dagestan and the recent bomb blasts in Moscow as the handiwork of Islamic extremists.
After hectic diplomatic activity in Washington, Moscow and other capitals, India is now hammering on the theme of "cross-border" terrorism at the current 54th session of the UN General Assembly in New York. The main thrust of Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh's address at the General Assembly
session was on terrorism. According to press reports, the same theme continues to dominate his discussions with leaders of other delegations present in New York.
India is expected to sign a number of conventions and protocols relating to international terrorism, including highjacking and plastic explosives, before Mr Jaswant Singh leaves New York. This is designed to pave the way for the
General Assembly's legal committee to get to work on a comprehensive convention on international terrorism that India has tabled.
The real objective of the Indian campaign against cross-border terrorism is to put pressure on Pakistan not to provide support to the freedom struggle of the Mujahideen in occupied Kashmir. New Delhi has been accusing Islamabad of
training Mujahideen in the camps in Azad Kashmir and sending them across the Line of Control to join the fight in occupied Kashmir.
Pakistan has been vigorously denying this charge, but, after the Kargil misadventure, Indian allegations seem to be falling on more receptive ears.
New Delhi has also hardened its stance on dialogue with Islamabad, saying that it will not resume talks as long as incursions from across the LoC continue.
Jaswant Singh has reportedly refused to meet Sartaj Aziz on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York on the plea that as long as Islamabad remains involved in "cross-border terrorism" no direct talks would be possible.
The recent foreign office statement reiterating that Pakistan is resolutely opposed to terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and condemning the recent wave of terrorism and bomb explosions in Moscow and elsewhere in
Russia was well timed. But obviously much more than a rebuttal here and a denial there is needed to counter the Indian propaganda at both bilateral and multilateral levels.
It must be realized that some foreign office statements and letters to foreign ministers or prime ministers, disclaiming any role in aiding or promoting terrorism, are not going to get us out of a difficult situation created by the emerging Indo-Russian-US nexus on the problem of terrorism. The government has to take steps to prove its bona fides on this score.
It has to adopt concrete measures to ensure that Pakistani soil is not used for carrying out acts of terror and subversion in another state. It has to check the activities of those zealots who feel it is their religious duty to send volunteers to fight on the side of their Muslim brethren in other parts of the world. In short, the government has to prevent adventurers and self-appointed holy warriors from using this country as a launching pad for fomenting troubles elsewhere. |
