New Delhi, November 24
On the eve of Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s visit to India, the civilian government in Pakistan claims to have disbanded the political wing of the military agency ISI, called a ‘state within a state’. Amid the euphoria over the healthy trend of voting in the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, this important development in the neighbouring country has, however, not attracted much attention in India.
Strategic experts here consider it as a bold move by the fledgling democratic leadership to assert itself at a time when terrorism and economic crisis of an unprecedented magnitude have gripped Pakistan.
The news report about the dissolution of the political wing of the notorious intelligence agency, viewed with great distrust in both India and Afghanistan, was first carried by a leading English daily of Pakistan. However, the news was received with skepticism even within Pakistan.
But the Pakistan foreign minister, who may have to answer a few embarrassing queries from the Indian leadership on the anti-India activities of the ISI during his visit to New Delhi, has confirmed the news, saying “ISI is a precious national institution and it wants to focus fully on counter-terrorism activities.”
Both President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani have not forgotten how the ISI sought to help the loyalists of former President Pervez Musharraf in the polls held in February. The political establishment had earlier also attempted to clip the wings of the ISI in July but backtracked from bringing it under the control of the Interior Ministry.
However, Pakistan Army chief, Gen Ashfaq Kiyani, who has himself served as the ISI head, is
said to be supportive of Pakistan’s return to civilian rule and insists that the army, including the ISI, must look after its own affairs.
Strategic expert C. Uday Bhaskar welcomed the disbanding of the political wing of ISI as a positive development, adding that the political leadership in Pakistan appeared to be seeking to assert its authority. He hoped both the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), the two main political forces which have developed sharp differences in recent months, would at least be one on the issue of curbing the power of the ISI.
Officials here said it would be too early to say whether the dissolution of the political wing would have any impact on the agency’s nefarious activities in this country. India had blamed the ISI for the July 7 deadly car bomb attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul.
It has also accused the intelligence agency of assisting the intrusion of a large number of militants in Jammu and Kashmir in recent days with the aim of fomenting trouble in the run up to the assembly elections in the state. However, all attempts by the ISI to sabotage the elections in the state have proved futile, given the enthusiastic participation of the people in the voting exercise.
The United States is also believed to have privately asked the Pakistan government to rein in the ISI, particularly after the suicide attack on the Indian embassy.
Meanwhile, the External Affairs Ministry today officially announced that the Pakistan foreign minister would pay a four-day visit to India from Wednesday.
He will have talks with external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee the same day. The next day, the two ministers will visit Chandigarh to jointly participate in a seminar on the subject of ‘Cooperative development, peace and security in South Asia’.
