PM puts an end to ‘Pak talk’ talk
Written By
Seema Guha
| Updated:
There has been scathing criticism of the PM in recent weeks for being soft on Pakistan by declaring that action on terror was not linked with the composite dialogue, which Islamabad has long wanted.
Hopes of reviving Indo-Pak dialogue have, for the moment, gone into cold storage. Prime minister Manmohan Singh, under attack since he and Yousuf Raza Gilani issued a joint statement in Sharma el Sheikh, Egypt, did an about turn on Wednesday, saying future talks with Pakistan would depend on its action.
There has been scathing criticism of the PM in recent weeks for being soft on Pakistan by declaring that action on terror was not linked with the composite dialogue, which Islamabad has long wanted. Today, however, he came up with a new mantra: Trust but verify. There can be no blind trust on words, as has happened in the past. So, talks with Pakistan are tied up with what happens on the ground.
“… we cannot move forward if terrorist attacks launched from Pakistani soil continue to kill and injure our citizens, here and abroad. That is the national position. I stand by it,” the PM said, interjecting in a debate on foreign policy in the Lok Sabha.
“I have said time and again and I repeat it right now again: It is impossible for any government in India to work towards full normalisation of relations with Pakistan unless the government of Pakistan fulfills, in letter and spirit, its commitment not to allow its territory to be used in any manner for terrorist activities against India,” he said.
Despite hopes that there was a breakthrough between India and Pakistan in Egypt and the composite dialogue will soon be picked up, the domestic uproar has tied the PM’s hands. He ruefully confessed as much when he said, “There are uncertainties on the horizon, and I cannot predict the future in dealing with neighbours, two nuclear powers.
We have to begin to trust each other, but not blindly, but trust and verify. People say we have broken the national consensus. I refuse to believe that we have broken the national consensus.”
At best the foreign secretaries and the foreign ministers will exchange notes in New York, when they meet on the sidelines of the UN general assembly session in September. It will be nothing but a limited and calibrated meeting.
The prime minister now knows that it will be impossible for India to resume full-fledged talks with Pakistan in the near future, even if Islamabad takes cursory action. But going by what interior minister Rehman Malik is publicly saying, Islamabad appears to be taking one step forward and two steps backwards. His assertion that New Delhi has given no credible evidence against Jamaat ud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed will further erode whatever little trust there is between the political leadership.
After the flak the PM received, he is unlikely to take any bold step with Pakistan. He made it clear in parliament on Wednesday that Islamabad’s promise made to AB Vajpayee in January 2004, and repeated to him in every meeting that its territory will not be used for attacks against India, will have to be kept.
“The people of India expect these assurances to be honoured and this government recognises that as the national consensus,” Singh said, after BJP leader Yashwant Sinha attacked him for breaking the national consensus on Pakistan.
The PM also clarified that Islamabad had not given any dossier about Indian involvement in Balochistan in Sharm el Sheikh. Instead, two days before Singh left for Paris and Sharm el Sheikh, Islamabad had handed over a dossier on the investigation into the Mumbai attack.
“This is the first time that Pakistan has formally briefed us on the results of an investigation into a terrorist attack in India. It has never happened before and I repeat this is the first time. It is also the first time that they have admitted that their nationals and a terrorist organisation based in Pakistan carried out a ghastly terrorist act in India,” Singh said. He pointed out that the admission of guilt which the UPA has got from Pakistan is much more than what the BJP-led NDA ever did, despite rushing the army to the border after the parliament attacks.
There has been scathing criticism of the PM in recent weeks for being soft on Pakistan by declaring that action on terror was not linked with the composite dialogue, which Islamabad has long wanted. Today, however, he came up with a new mantra: Trust but verify. There can be no blind trust on words, as has happened in the past. So, talks with Pakistan are tied up with what happens on the ground.
“… we cannot move forward if terrorist attacks launched from Pakistani soil continue to kill and injure our citizens, here and abroad. That is the national position. I stand by it,” the PM said, interjecting in a debate on foreign policy in the Lok Sabha.
“I have said time and again and I repeat it right now again: It is impossible for any government in India to work towards full normalisation of relations with Pakistan unless the government of Pakistan fulfills, in letter and spirit, its commitment not to allow its territory to be used in any manner for terrorist activities against India,” he said.
Despite hopes that there was a breakthrough between India and Pakistan in Egypt and the composite dialogue will soon be picked up, the domestic uproar has tied the PM’s hands. He ruefully confessed as much when he said, “There are uncertainties on the horizon, and I cannot predict the future in dealing with neighbours, two nuclear powers.
We have to begin to trust each other, but not blindly, but trust and verify. People say we have broken the national consensus. I refuse to believe that we have broken the national consensus.”
At best the foreign secretaries and the foreign ministers will exchange notes in New York, when they meet on the sidelines of the UN general assembly session in September. It will be nothing but a limited and calibrated meeting.
The prime minister now knows that it will be impossible for India to resume full-fledged talks with Pakistan in the near future, even if Islamabad takes cursory action. But going by what interior minister Rehman Malik is publicly saying, Islamabad appears to be taking one step forward and two steps backwards. His assertion that New Delhi has given no credible evidence against Jamaat ud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed will further erode whatever little trust there is between the political leadership.
After the flak the PM received, he is unlikely to take any bold step with Pakistan. He made it clear in parliament on Wednesday that Islamabad’s promise made to AB Vajpayee in January 2004, and repeated to him in every meeting that its territory will not be used for attacks against India, will have to be kept.
“The people of India expect these assurances to be honoured and this government recognises that as the national consensus,” Singh said, after BJP leader Yashwant Sinha attacked him for breaking the national consensus on Pakistan.
The PM also clarified that Islamabad had not given any dossier about Indian involvement in Balochistan in Sharm el Sheikh. Instead, two days before Singh left for Paris and Sharm el Sheikh, Islamabad had handed over a dossier on the investigation into the Mumbai attack.
“This is the first time that Pakistan has formally briefed us on the results of an investigation into a terrorist attack in India. It has never happened before and I repeat this is the first time. It is also the first time that they have admitted that their nationals and a terrorist organisation based in Pakistan carried out a ghastly terrorist act in India,” Singh said. He pointed out that the admission of guilt which the UPA has got from Pakistan is much more than what the BJP-led NDA ever did, despite rushing the army to the border after the parliament attacks.