Author: Editorial
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: May 31, 2001
While politely accepting Prime Minister
Vajpayee's invitation to visit Delhi, Pakistan's chief executive, General
Musharraf, rather unfairly, tried to mix rhetoric with diplomacy. He specified
that the ''root cause of tension'' between India and Pakistan ''is the
unresolved Jammu and Kashmir dispute''. By this the general has put a spoke
in the wheel of the dialogue process. It almost looks like a surreptitious
attempt at defining the agenda ahead of the summit, which is otherwise
geared towards discussing peace, stability and friendship between the two
South Asian neighbours. No one disagrees that J&K remains one of the
main issues between the two countries. In fact, Vajpayee's invitation letter
makes a clear mention of that. But, in contrast to Vajpayee's statesman
like plea -''I invite you to walk the high road with us,'' the road of
''reconciliation, of engaging in productive dialogue and by building trust
and confidence...'' - General Musharraf, in a carefully calculated stance,
attempted to define the destination even before the walk had begun.
While replying to Vajpayee's observation
that a''stable, secure and prosperous Pakistan is in India's interest'',
the general sounds almost churlish in his reply: ''We wish to see a stable
and prosperous India at peace with its neighbours''. The sarcasm evident
here contrasts sharply with the prime minister's tone of sincerity. Although
the general's need to adopt such postures, for the sake of driving a hard
bargain, is understandable, there is no surer way to abort an India-Pakistan
dialogue than to lace the agenda with impossible pre-conditions and rhetoric.
After all, the general must realise that, summit or no summit, India's
sovereignty over J&K is non-negotiable. The summit must be perceived
in the tradition of the Shimla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration. The
invitation to Musharraf is not, as Vajpayee confessed from Manali, a sign
of weakness but a demonstration of self-confidence.
Five decades of conflict in the
region has led to nothing else but endemic poverty. Even after 50-odd years
of independence, South Asia is usually at the bottom of the list of all
welfare indicators, be they education, the position of women, infant mortality,
per capita income, and so on. In this respect, the position of Pakistan
is worse than that of India. Equally, the increasing Talibanisation of
the region is perhaps a bigger threat for Musharraf than for India. The
path to peace is, therefore, an imperative for both the neighbours if the
welfare of the people of the region is to be addressed. It is with this
vision in mind that the dialogue must be carried forward. As all political
leaders know, it is easier to get support from the people in times of war
than during negotiations for peace. The possibility of getting waylaid,
reverse-tracked or simply ending up where one began, is immense. Sincerity
is the name of the game if one desires success in achieving peace. Instead
of working oneself into a corner from where one cannot wriggle out, it
is better to be flexible and open-ended from the start. Given this, the
talks must begin with lofty ideals rather than narrow selfish interests.
Otherwise the proposed summit, instead of walking the high road, might
end in a cul-de-sac.
