Pakistan: Rapprochement with India ‘unstoppable’

LAHORE, Oct 19 (IPS): Although the general feeling of relief here at the removal of the Nawaz Sharif government is tempered by apprehension of what the future holds under yet another military general, one thing is clear: people want peace with India. And so apparently does General Parvez Musharraf, the new ‘Chief Executive’ of Pakistan.

One of the salient features of his address to the nation on Oct 17 was the announcement of a unilateral withdrawal of troops. Reassuring the international community that there would be no change in Pakistan’s foreign policy, Gen. Musharraf went on to discuss ‘’two key areas of our external relations: international security and disarmament and our relations with India.’’

‘’< a rel="tag" href="/tag/Pakistan">Pakistan has always been alive to international non-proliferation concerns,’’ he said. ‘’Last year, we were compelled to respond to India’s nuclear tests in order to restore strategic balance in the interest of our national security and regional peace and stablity. In the new nuclear environment in South Asia, we believe that both Pakistan and India have to excercise utmost restraint and responsiblity.’’

Congratulating Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee on assuming office as Prime Minister of India and welcoming Vajpayee’s offer for friendly relations, he positively reciprocated by stating that Pakistan would welcome ‘unconditional, equitable and result-oriented dialgue with India.’

The general went further and actually initiated a ‘meaningful confidence building measure’, surprising all listeners: he announced a ‘unilateral military de-escalation on our international borders with India’ and the ‘return of all our forces moved to the borders in the recent past’.

Pakistan would, however, continue its ‘unflinching moral, political and diplomatic support’ to the Kashmiris in their ‘struggle to achieve their right of self-determination. ‘’India must honour the UN Resolutions and its own commitment to the people of Kashmir. It must also end its repression of the Kashmiri people and respect their fundamental rights,’’ he said.

Those least surprised by Gen. Musharraf’s annoucement may be colleagues and friends with a personal knowledge of his views. Investigations, and interviews with serving and retired army officials and friends of the general by Kamran Khan, special correspondent of The News, reveal that he is known for his ‘flexible position on professional matters’ and his preference for ‘seeking a collective decision over his personal position’.

In a front page article in The News on Oct 19 titled ‘Portrait of a general as a young man’, citing ‘sources close to Musharraf’, Khan reports that ‘even on the Kargil issue, Nawaz Sharif had been briefed about the development at the ISI headquarters in March’.

‘’Instead of raising any objection or reservation about the mission, Sharif raised his hands in prayer for success in Kargil,’’ writes Khan, quoting a source ‘privy to the briefing.

‘’A few weeks later, before India even had an inkling of the Mujahideen occupying the Kargil heights, Musharraf informed Sharif that if he desired, the Army could arrange for the Mujahideen’s withdrawal, an offer almost instantly rejected by Sharif,’’ reports Khan.

A partial withdrawal of the Pakistan army from its international borders with India was started on Monday morning (Oct 18), according to an army spokesman, in line with Gen. Musharraf’s desire to reduce tensions with India in the wake of the recent conflict over Kashmir around the Line of Control at Kargil.

India’s response has been less than enthusiastic, with Indian army chief V.P. Malik stating that he did not set too much store by this initiative. ‘’We should not read too much in this Pakistani annoucement,’’ he told the PTI. ‘’We shall assess the situation on the basis of the overall security situation along the international border as well as the Line of Control.

His wait-and-see attitude was mirrored by foreign ministry spokesman Raminder Singh Jassal, who was reported to have ‘’shrugged off’’ Pakistan’s move and demanded an end to ‘cross-border terrorism’ sponsored by Islamabad.

Analysts here are unsurprised by India’s reluctance to respond positively to Gen. Musharraf’s offer of an olive branch. ‘’India seeks, as always, to project itself as the aggrieved party,’’ commented the respected Lahore-based political observer Abbas Rashid, a former full-time journalist now engaged in research work on political and regional issues.

‘’Tens of thousands of innocent Kashmiris have been killed in the Valley by Indian security forces. It was India that introduced nuclear weapons in South Asia last year,’’ he wrote in a front-page comment in daily The News (Oct 19). Rashid emphasised that Gen. Musharraf’s re-stating of Pakistan’s position on Kashmir ‘’should not detract from the significance of the initiative.’’ Nor is there reason for India to assume ‘’that it occupies, on a permanent basis, the high moral ground,’’ he said.

‘’Again, the general’s wish for a truly representative government in Kabul is significantly different from indicating unqualified support for the Taliban,’’ Rashid pointed out. ‘’It is no secret that the army has had a major say in formulating policy on Afghanistan and Kashmir. Maybe it can now manage a settlement that civilian governments, not always for lack of trying, could not.’’

Sharing this optimism is Dr Mubashir Hasan, a former hawk turned peace activist who served as federal finance minister in Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s cabinet more than twenty years ago. A leading exponent of people-to-people dialogue and Track II diplomacy for several years now, Dr Hasan is a member of the Pakistan-India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy’s National Council.

‘’The process of rapprochement between India and Pakistan is unstoppable,’’ he told IPS. ‘’The pace can vary.’’

‘’Pakistanis must understand that the extraordinary step taken by the Indian prime minister last February (coming to Lahore by bus across the Wagah border), was not the action merely of the BJP but of a whole gamut of Indian political opinion. Since that step was taken in the interest of India, there is no reason to imagine that the compulsions which made it take that step have in any way reduced.’’

Dr Hasan believes that the Kargil episode has, in fact, made it all the more imperative for India to ‘’act with greater vigour than before and for Pakistan to respond with greater fervour than before.’’

Given the Western, particularly US, disapproval of the situation in Pakistan, his advice to India is to ‘’avail the opportunity and assure Pakistan that India stands for real peace in the region and would not like to support the USA in arm-twisting Pakistan.’’