Talks, Talks and More Talks

I guess i am one of those guilty of actually pinning hope on Pakistani diplomatic efforst with regards to India and Kashmir.

I suppose I now stand corrected and a bit more cynical.

The PM`s visit with President Clinton, first of all, was an un official one. Furthermore, it was the first meeting between the two. In the light of these to facts one can reasonably say that it was not a useless visit.

The American President did not bring up any of the ``troublesome`` issues which concerned Pakistan. He did not press the nuclear issue, nor the human rights (women`s rights under `hadood laws` and child labor laws), nor the so-called terrorist issue. The only controversial question was raised by Madline Albright who mentioned the CWC (Chemical Weapons Convention).

The PM handled that question well when he pointed out that Pakistan had a bilateral agreement with India whereby the two countries were not supposed to have any CWs. However, the PM emphasized, that now India has declared its stockpile of CWs and therefore it is not possible for Pakistan to unilaterally agree to not develop any CWs. Clinton did not push the issue.

On the nuclear front the Americans seem to have decided that the genie is out of the bottle and that it is futile to attempt turning back the wheel of time. It is much better, the thinking in Washington goes, to engage India and Pakistan in nuclear arms control. For that they first have to drop the issue of nuclear ``development``.

On the issue of the F-16s the President was rather sheepish and promised to try ``even harder`` to convince Congress to release them or fefund the money.

The truth about F-16s is that they have become the victims of a turf war between the Executive branch and Legislative branch of the US government. Only an intervention by the judiciary can break this deadlock. Of course, Clinton will not come out and say to Nawaz Sharif, ``Mr. Prime Minister, you should sue our country.`` That will be political suicide for him. It is our job to have the common sense to realize and do so. But the mentality of the Pakistani Officaldom is still stuck in the colonial era and they are afraid to be antagonistic in this way.

After the meeting a senior US diplomat made an informal comment to this effect. ``We don`t understand why they have not sued us yet.``

The PMs meeting with Gujral, on the other hand, was less productive. Gujral sits atop a volcano which may explode any minute. He has no real authority and he cannot do anything. Its a deadlock situation. The military-industrial-complex in India has become much more powerful than it was before and the Central Governmant has become much weaker. Its almost the situation which occurred in Pakistan in the 1950s. At that time Lal Bahadur Shastri (who was a senior Congress party official, Nehru was still alive) is alleged to have remarked that he did not change is ``dhoti`` as frequently as Pakistan changed governments. We know what happened in Pakistan. The military finally stepped in and the real disaster began.

In India today there are similar long-term threats looming large. It is up to us to be imaginative and take the initiative in our hands and say to hell with Kashmir. We want our own economic house in order and we cannot afford an antagonistic relationship. It is in our enlightened self-interest to sue for meaningful peace with India. Open the borders and let the people mingle. India has far larger problems and we don`t need to be enemies.

I think Nawaz Sharif is doing okay, he just needs competent help.