Author: HT Correspondent
Publication: The Hindustan Times
Date: October 12, 2001
The resumption of Indo-Pak dialogue
will depend on Islamabad withdrawing its support to the export of terrorism
to Jammu and Kashmir.
Making this clear at a Press conference
today, on the eve of US Secretary of State Colin Powell's visit to the
sub-continent, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh indicated that New
Delhi could revert to the posture it adopted prior to the May 23 "turnaround"
which led to the Agra Summit.
"The Prime Minister has always been
open to talks, but the export of terror as an instrument of state policy
must end if the dialogue process is to restart. Unless there is the right
environment how do we talk?" he said.
India's policy of engaging Pakistan,
proxy war or not, underwent a change in general after the September 11
attacks on the US, and in particular after the October 1 fidayeen attack
in Srinagar.
The Powell visit, which is being
viewed as a trouble-shooting assignment on the US President's behest, would
be utilised by the Indian Government to get home its message that the US
must focus on Musharraf's Pakistan if it intended to take its "war against
terrorism' anywhere.
Already, some points have been scored.
New Delhi's furnishing of unambiguous evidence led to Musharraf sacking
his ISI chief.
In fact, Jaswant ventured so far
as to claim that India was a direct beneficiary of the US strikes on Taliban
training camps because Pakistan, in its bid to bury evidence, had shifted
some of the Pak-based nurseries of Kashmir militancy to Afghanistan.
"When the Al Qeda's network is targeted,
the terrorists operating out of Pak-occupied Kashmir are also targeted
-- their neutralisation as bases for export of terror benefits India's
security interests", the minister said. He went on to add that the Anglo-American
operations in Afghanistan and "those who harbour terrorism (read Pakistan)"
would form the "key components" of the agenda for his talks with Powell
when he comes here after his weekend visit to Pakistan.
He said, India would soon be dispatching
one million tonnes of wheat, besides tents, blankets and medical supplies
for Afghan refugees in Pakistan. An MEA source said talks with Pakistan
for overland transportation permission were on.
The minister, however, ruled out
India's military involvement in the conflict, but said it would be keen
to play a role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan once a "multi-ethnic
government" was installed there.
