Author: Editorial
Publication: The Wall Street Journal
Date: October 19, 2001
As Colin Powell touched down in
Pakistan on Monday for talks with President Musharraf, he was greeted with
what sounded like a 21-gun salute. Except that the guns were Indian and
fired not in Mr. Powell's honor but at Pakistani army posts on the Line
of Control dividing India from Pakistan in Kashmir.
That welcome more or less sums up
Washington's conundrum on the Indian Subcontinent. On the one hand, the
U.S. has a burgeoning relationship with India. These ties hold enormous
promise not just in the war against terror, but also to secure as an ally
a country of size, substance and lively democratic traditions. On the other,
the U.S. needs the support of Pakistan in its war of self-defense in Afghanistan.
The U.S. does not want enmity between
India and Pakistan to intrude on the Afghan theater, and to put any strain
on what has, until now, been a cohesive coalition against the Taliban regime.
But keeping both sides calm isn't easy.
India asserts -- and credibly --
that Pakistan sponsors terrorist groups whose members attempt daily to
cross the Line of Control. Monday's Indian shelling was in response to
a flood of such infiltration in recent days, always under covering fire
from the Pakistani army. A recent terrorist attack killed 40 Indians, after
September 11. (The group responsible, Jaish-e-Mohammed, was recently added
to U.S. terror lists.)
For his part, General Musharraf
is already under pressure from Islamic extremists at home for lending a
hand to the U.S. He is unlikely to welcome further pressure from his mullahs
and imams to respond in kind to India's latest assaults.
So Mr. Powell counseled restraint
in Islamabad; and in New Delhi, on Tuesday, he counseled more restraint.
Although his words were not music to Indian ears, they were given due respect.
India is no longer a country that is "disagreeable about disagreements,"
to use the words of its voluble foreign minister, Jaswant Singh.
India has changed, and has too much
invested -- emotionally and politically -- in a new alliance with the U.S.
to embrace the role of spoiler. That said, New Delhi must be coaxed to
cultivate a cooler approach toward cross-border terror that has its origins
in Pakistan - - at least until the Afghan mission is complete. And Indian
restraint should not be seen in Delhi merely as a favor to the U.S. India
also has much to gain from ousting the Taliban, whose radical brand of
Islam spreads violence around the region.
Mr. Powell was right to reassure
India that it hasn't been forgotten in the present war, and that its interests
-- especially concerns over terrorism -- aren't being sacrificed in a bid
to keep the Pakistanis on board. In exchange, Mr. Powell won assurances
that India would not cross the Line of Control in hot pursuit of terrorists,
an option that had, in recent days, appeared to acquire favor in senior
Indian political circles. India also reiterated its "no first use" stand
on nuclear weapons.
Mr. Powell's soothing diplomacy
paid off. Just as the U.S. strokes Israel from time to time, India too
needs to be comforted. Besides, India's early and enthusiastic offer of
support to the U.S. after September 11 -- airspace, air bases, intelligence-sharing,
the works - - was instrumental in pushing Pakistan to match that support.
For that alone, India deserved a warm "thank you" from Mr. Powell.
