Zero sum to positive sum —Ejaz Haider
The one thing starkly overlooked in this otherwise excellent piece by Ejaz is the role of the wild card - the joker in this stack. If India wants to "initiate" intrusive actions, even if they be of limited nature, the key question is not what the government of Pakistan would do or not do. Ejaz Haider should write and elaborate on what the Army's reaction would be if its arch enemy India resorts to limited "intrusive" action hitting "terrorist training camps" in Muzzaffarabad, Multan or Muridke ~ t
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The first thing India has to do to strengthen this approach is to show “restraint”, which it has. While it has been hurt grievously, it shall not fly into a rage. Truth is, it cannot afford to, given the lack of any military options at this stage. Yet, to present this necessity as virtue is a smart move because New Delhi’s stock is already high in the international market and it hopes to make its incline directly proportional to the decline in Pakistan’s.
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Simultaneously, now that we know there were ample warnings of the attack, Pakistan should strongly stress the point that India and the US should have brought Islamabad in the loop before the attacks materialised rather than asking for cooperation after the event. Before is the only way to pre-empt such attacks.
Pakistan must also hammer the point that without addressing the causes of terrorism, the menace cannot be rooted out. If India does go to the Security Council to get its case plugged into the larger legal regime on terrorism, Pakistan should push for linking it up with the UN resolutions on Kashmir which remain pending on the Security Council’s agenda.
The Kashmir dispute is one of the viruses behind much of what is happening. Addressing it is important in trying to dislocate the terrorists from the context that breeds them. The effort should not be seen as an adversarial move but one that genuinely seeks to bring sanity to South Asia. Just like India wants to help Pakistan and itself by appealing to the international community, Pakistan must too to help India and itself.
This is a point in history where India and Pakistan can either swim or sink together. Let them opt for approaches that make the first rather than the second possible. LINK
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The first thing India has to do to strengthen this approach is to show “restraint”, which it has. While it has been hurt grievously, it shall not fly into a rage. Truth is, it cannot afford to, given the lack of any military options at this stage. Yet, to present this necessity as virtue is a smart move because New Delhi’s stock is already high in the international market and it hopes to make its incline directly proportional to the decline in Pakistan’s.
***
Simultaneously, now that we know there were ample warnings of the attack, Pakistan should strongly stress the point that India and the US should have brought Islamabad in the loop before the attacks materialised rather than asking for cooperation after the event. Before is the only way to pre-empt such attacks.
Pakistan must also hammer the point that without addressing the causes of terrorism, the menace cannot be rooted out. If India does go to the Security Council to get its case plugged into the larger legal regime on terrorism, Pakistan should push for linking it up with the UN resolutions on Kashmir which remain pending on the Security Council’s agenda.
The Kashmir dispute is one of the viruses behind much of what is happening. Addressing it is important in trying to dislocate the terrorists from the context that breeds them. The effort should not be seen as an adversarial move but one that genuinely seeks to bring sanity to South Asia. Just like India wants to help Pakistan and itself by appealing to the international community, Pakistan must too to help India and itself.
This is a point in history where India and Pakistan can either swim or sink together. Let them opt for approaches that make the first rather than the second possible. LINK
posted by temporal at 12/06/2008
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