A little over a month ago, Manmohan Singh, India’s prime minister, made one of the warmest gestures of bonhomie towards his Pakistani counterpart in years.
He invited Yusuf Raza Gilani to India to watch their respective teams do battle in the cricket World Cup semi-finals. Sonia Gandhi, the president of the Congress party, and Pratibha Patil, president of the republic, joined them in the box.
The “cricket diplomacy” raised hopes of a revival of bilateral peace talks, stalled since the devastating 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, widely blamed on Pakistan-based militants.
The killing of Osama bin Laden on the doorstep of Pakistan’s security establishment has cut short Mr Singh’s innings.
New Delhi and Islamabad are rattling sabres at one another as Indian security hawks debate unilateral strikes against militant targets within Pakistan, similar to the one undertaken by US navy Seals in Abbottabad, 50km from the capital Islamabad.
Mr Singh is expected to soldier on with a series of meetings with India’s neighbour that have been set up in the weeks ahead. This month officials will meet for talks on water issues. Later they will discuss boundaries, including the Siachen glacier which ties up troops in freezing temperatures on both sides.
But few, including those at the top of the Congress party, are hopeful of the timing. Pakistan today is deeply embarrassed, according to Pervez Musharraf, the country’s former military ruler. Indians are openly crowing.
Many of India’s former top diplomats have rubbed salt into Pakistan’s wounds. Almost unanimously they have chorused “I told you so” about the nature of Pakistan’s army and its relationship with militants.
“Singh is going to keep trying [to reach out to Pakistan], but it’s not going to get anywhere,” said a former US official. Others advise the prime minister to play safe rather than risk his legacy.
“With bin Laden’s ghost now haunting the Pakistani army, the prime minister must hitch his legacy to less risky fare than relations with Pakistan,” says K.C. Singh, a former Indian ambassador.
India and Pakistan – their relations poisoned by the legacy of the British partition of the subcontinent – have fought three wars, and come to the brink of a fourth, since their independence in 1947. New Delhi has long accused Pakistan’s military intelligence of sponsoring terrorist groups as proxies in its conflict with India.
Bin Laden’s death has triggered a public debate about whether New Delhi could carry out similar covert operations against its enemies sheltering in Pakistan, especially those suspected of masterminding the Mumbai attacks. The discussion has even drawn in Palaniappan Chidambaram, the home minister.
Gen. V.K. Singh, the Indian army chief, fanned the flames in the hours after the US assault by saying that India had the capacity to mount a similar covert operations as the US Seals’ assault on bin Laden’s hideout.
His assertion is one that most Indian analysts see as a bluff. Yet the Indian army chief’s remarks sparked a furore in Pakistan – and a sharp response. The Pakistani army, while warning the US off any repeat attacks, also found time to tell India that “any misadventure” would be responded to “very strongly”.
Some senior Indian officials have sought to bring calm, reaffirming New Delhi’s commitment to a broad dialogue that will put everything on the table rather than just narrow concerns about terrorism.
He invited Yusuf Raza Gilani to India to watch their respective teams do battle in the cricket World Cup semi-finals. Sonia Gandhi, the president of the Congress party, and Pratibha Patil, president of the republic, joined them in the box.
Mr Singh’s officials were effusive afterwards. The re-engagement, a personal initiative of the premier’s, was all about “reconciliation” and “healing wounds”.
The killing of Osama bin Laden on the doorstep of Pakistan’s security establishment has cut short Mr Singh’s innings.
New Delhi and Islamabad are rattling sabres at one another as Indian security hawks debate unilateral strikes against militant targets within Pakistan, similar to the one undertaken by US navy Seals in Abbottabad, 50km from the capital Islamabad.
Mr Singh is expected to soldier on with a series of meetings with India’s neighbour that have been set up in the weeks ahead. This month officials will meet for talks on water issues. Later they will discuss boundaries, including the Siachen glacier which ties up troops in freezing temperatures on both sides.
But few, including those at the top of the Congress party, are hopeful of the timing. Pakistan today is deeply embarrassed, according to Pervez Musharraf, the country’s former military ruler. Indians are openly crowing.
Many of India’s former top diplomats have rubbed salt into Pakistan’s wounds. Almost unanimously they have chorused “I told you so” about the nature of Pakistan’s army and its relationship with militants.
“Singh is going to keep trying [to reach out to Pakistan], but it’s not going to get anywhere,” said a former US official. Others advise the prime minister to play safe rather than risk his legacy.
“With bin Laden’s ghost now haunting the Pakistani army, the prime minister must hitch his legacy to less risky fare than relations with Pakistan,” says K.C. Singh, a former Indian ambassador.
India and Pakistan – their relations poisoned by the legacy of the British partition of the subcontinent – have fought three wars, and come to the brink of a fourth, since their independence in 1947. New Delhi has long accused Pakistan’s military intelligence of sponsoring terrorist groups as proxies in its conflict with India.
Bin Laden’s death has triggered a public debate about whether New Delhi could carry out similar covert operations against its enemies sheltering in Pakistan, especially those suspected of masterminding the Mumbai attacks. The discussion has even drawn in Palaniappan Chidambaram, the home minister.
Gen. V.K. Singh, the Indian army chief, fanned the flames in the hours after the US assault by saying that India had the capacity to mount a similar covert operations as the US Seals’ assault on bin Laden’s hideout.
His assertion is one that most Indian analysts see as a bluff. Yet the Indian army chief’s remarks sparked a furore in Pakistan – and a sharp response. The Pakistani army, while warning the US off any repeat attacks, also found time to tell India that “any misadventure” would be responded to “very strongly”.
Some senior Indian officials have sought to bring calm, reaffirming New Delhi’s commitment to a broad dialogue that will put everything on the table rather than just narrow concerns about terrorism.
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