New Delhi, January 12
India is keeping a close watch on the developments in Pakistan and hopes that the stand-off between the civilian government and the Army will not have a bearing on the dialogue process between the two countries.

Talking to reporters here today, Home Minister P Chidambaram stated that India was following the developments in Pakistan. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), at its meeting this afternoon, is understood to have taken note of the fast-evolving situation in Pakistan

Senior officials said what was happening in Pakistan was an internal matter of the neighbouring country but India would have to remain alert.

On whether there was any possibility of a military takeover in Islamabad, one source said the situation was so fragile that nothing could be ruled out. Though India would like democracy to flourish in Pakistan, it would deal with any dispensation that is at the helm of affairs in Islamabad.

But New Delhi believes that the dialogue process, which was resumed in February last year after a hiatus of two years following the Mumbai attack, would remain on track, notwithstanding the internal developments in Pakistan.

As of now, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma is scheduled to visit Pakistan next month to sign three agreements on removing non-tariff barriers in bilateral trade.

The Defence, Water Resources and Foreign secretaries of the two countries are also tipped to meet in the coming days as part of the second round of the dialogue process. The Indian Foreign Minister will visit Pakistan in July to review the progress in the second round of the dialogue with his Pakistani counterpart. However, all these plans could go awry if the situation in Pakistan goes out of control, the source added.

The sense in strategic circles is that the situation was not conducive for a takeover by the army in Pakistan, since the country was passing through an unprecedented economic crisis. It would be difficult for the army to manage the affairs of the state. Pakistan is facing an acute resource crunch on the petroleum front and even its key allies like Saudi Arabia and Qatar have refused to extend the credit time limit for the country.

There is a feeling here that the army would prefer to remain in the barracks at this stage as its image has already taken a beating due to recent developments, particularly the killing of Osama bin Laden by the US forces at Abbottabad.