The Hindu
A Welcome initiative
THE DISMAL CLOUDS that hung over Almaty about a collapsing relationship between India and Pakistan seem to be gradually dispersing. Just when it appeared that the leaders of the two countries could not even follow the ordinary protocol of extending basic civil courtesies towards each other during the course of a major multilateral conference in the Kazakh city of Almaty, the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, has revived hopes of some forward movement towards a constructive re-engagement between the two parties. "Joint patrolling" of the Line of Control by Indian and Pakistani forces, the idea now floated by Mr. Vajpayee, suggests that New Delhi and Islamabad could explore the possibility of agreeing to work together and "verify" Pakistan's recent pledge to end the endemic "infiltration" of terrorists into India across the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir. India's initiative, which implies a new willingness to trust Pakistan but verify its intentions in a cooperative exercise, deserves to be welcomed by Islamabad and the larger international community. In fact, Mr. Vajpayee's conciliatory comments in this regard in Almaty on Wednesday confirm the recent indications that India and Pakistan are quietly seeking ways to reduce their unacceptably abnormal tensions.
Now, the idea of "joint patrolling" would successfully pre-empt far less wholesome proposals such as posting external monitors. Any suggestion for international monitors of this kind at any time will entail a certain intrusive presence of external players along the India-Pakistan frontier and along the Line of Control. Mr. Vajpayee's latest formula will have the merit of inducing India and Pakistan to collaborate and instil confidence in each other over time. Islamabad's anxieties are of a qualitatively different kind. Speaking before Mr. Vajpayee indicated his mind, the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, was reported to have observed that New Delhi was "an accuser and judge at the same time" in regard to infiltrations into India from the Pakistani side. In a critical sense, Mr. Vajpayee now seems to have gone some distance towards accepting Pakistan as a co-judge over matters concerning infiltration. While Pakistan will not certainly view this as a gilt-edged gift, Mr. Vajpayee has needlessly cited the logistical difficulties of a harsh mountainous terrain in Jammu and Kashmir to argue against the induction of monitors from outside India and Pakistan. This argument is open to scepticism on the wider international stage. Not only that. The Prime Minister could have placed his formula beyond the pale of criticism on such counts by simply being emphatic about the need for bilateralism in the India-Pakistan context. The nuclear dimension of the war-and-peace issues concerning India and Pakistan is a strong factor that underlines the importance of bilateral confidence-building exercises. A cooperative "joint patrolling" can indeed serve as a good beginning towards confidence-building across the entire spectrum of India-Pakistan engagement over time.
It seemed to have been a matter of studied protocol that Mr. Vajpayee cold-shouldered the Pakistan President in Almaty during the first Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia. New Delhi's apparent intention was to send out a signal that social pleasantries of the cosmetic kind should not be allowed to raise false hopes of a new diplomatic breakthrough in respect of the India-Pakistan relationship. Obviously, New Delhi was also keen to prevent Gen. Musharraf, a consummate practitioner of public diplomacy, from stealing the show by playing the peacemaker. India perhaps need not have struck such a defensive note when in fact it seems to have been able to impress the international community as regards the infiltration issue. New Delhi should, therefore, play its cards with a greater degree of finesse and self-assurance than that it showed at Almaty at this time.
