Being Pragmatic and Practical

Being Pragmatic and Practical

April 14, 2012
By Kuldip Nayar

It is churlish on the part of a few Indian circles to oppose the visit by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh till Pakistan makes amends for the November 26 attacks on Mumbai. The matter is before the courts of both countries and all have to wait till the process of justice is complete.

Similarly, I do not understand why some elements in Pakistan are making noises over an 18-hour visit to India by President Asif Ali Zardari. People should take into consideration that the ice has been broken after Zardari-Singh meeting. There is suddenly an atmosphere of give and take at the highest level. This will help peace efforts.

The two words which Singh used after the meeting have been missed in the midst of media hype and officials’ caution. He said that they discussed all problems between India and Pakistan and found “pragmatic and practical” solutions. In other words, both leaders went beyond the official and public line on Kashmir and the other pending issues to normalise relations.

Whether and how the solutions they discussed would be implemented is not possible to guess. Essentially, the steps they would take are dependent on the consensus they are able to build in their respective countries. The Zardari government has been left with less than a year before it faces fresh elections. It has many masters to placate to retain a majority in the National Assembly. And then the biggest party is the army which is the country’s third chamber.

Zardari was himself conscious of the forces he had to reckon with. Therefore, he met Chief of Army Staff General Pervez Kayani and also Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani at Lahore before taking the plane to Delhi. Zardari, by now an astute politician, must have known from them the contours within which he had to stay.

Normalisation of ties

Singh is adept in compulsions of coalition politics. The support to Zardari’s visit by BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, former foreign minister, indicates that the party with anti-Pakistan image also backs steps for normalisation. This makes things easier. Singh’s problem will be within his own party. One indication is the absence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi from the lunch in honour of Zardari. She, who monopolises the party, did not consider the participation important. On the other hand, she gave the message that she was far tougher than the BJP hawk, L.K. Advani.

The most charitable explanation of her absence is that Sonia wanted her son, Rahul Gandhi, to get all the limelight when he was introduced to the heir apparent, Bilawal Zardari, son of Benazir Bhutto and grandson of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Maybe, she would have emerged better if she had blessed the scion of new generations of the two dynasties which are linked with succession.

Zardari’s visit, which began with a pilgrimage at Ajmer and developed into a political event, has made Singh’s trip to Pakistan easier. And both sides, including Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Pakistan Interior Minister Rahman Malek, have discussed how to accelerate the process of prosecution in Pakistan. Yet this legal or somewhat motivated delay cannot come in the way of Singh’s visit. At stake is missing the aperture which Zardari’s one-to-one talk for 40 minutes has provided. The trade agreement has already prepared the ground for something, not Sir Creek which Singh has said is “doeable”.

It is apparent that the architect of the November 26 attacks, Hafiz Saeed, who now carries a prize of $10 million (Dh36.7 million) on his head, was discussed in detail. Indian Foreign Secretary Rajan Mathai confirms this. Zardari must have felt that action against Saeed is a litmus test for India to measure whether Pakistan is really keen on punishing those who attacked Mumbai from its soil. Pakistan too is beleaguered by the elements which Saeed has unleashed. This calls for firm action.

In fact, what is needed is a joint mechanism to eliminate the Taliban. Now that the American and the Nato forces would be leaving the region in another two years, it is imperative for New Delhi and Islamabad to think of filling the vacuum. Kabul’s sovereignty is important, more so because it is bearing the brunt of the Taliban.

Pakistan has experienced how the Taliban behaved when they took over the Swat valley. Pakistan has no resources to fight the battle alone, particularly at this time when relations with America are turning sour.

India and Pakistan can fight against the Taliban who are lying low for the moment, waiting for the western forces to quit. For any joint action, both India and Pakistan have to settle their differences which are primarily because of the trust deficit. The meeting between Singh and Zardari has provided the two countries with an opportunity to sit across the table and find a solution to their problems. When the two can agree upon “pragmatic and practical” solutions during a 40-minute talk, why can’t both countries on the whole break the logjam? It is time now to go ahead.

Kuldip Nayar is a former Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and a former Rajya Sabha member.

Source: Gulf News