Jammu, September 17
Is history repeating itself in Pakistan? This question is being widely discussed in political and public circles in Jammu and Kashmir after Islamabad has imposed conditions before the US Government for extending its cooperation in the planned retaliatory measures against the Taliban.
The American plan to hit back after the terrorist attack strikes on key US targets has seemingly brought Pakistan to the centrestage. Till September 11, when terrorists struck in America, Pakistan was groping in isolation and its involvement in aiding cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir had allowed India to score political and diplomatic victory against Islamabad. The result was a marked pro-India tilt in the foreign policy of America.
It was in 1979, soon after Gen Zia-ul-Haq assumed power through a coup against Z.A. Bhutto’s government, that Pakistan took the centrestage when Soviet troops entered Afghanistan. For the Americans and their allies, Pakistan became the base for launching an indirect campaign against the Soviet intrusion in Afghanistan.
And till the Soviet pullout, Pakistan received military aid from America worth several hundred billion dollars. The aid was in the form of military hardware, weapons for enabling the Afghan mujahideen to force the Soviet troops to withdraw from the mountain-locked Afghanistan.
Pakistan later diverted part of the funds and weaponary for toning up Operation Topac in Jammu and Kashmir. The Soviet intrusion in Afghanistan had forced the US Government to approach Pakistan for cooperation, which was readily available. This
cooperation helped Pakistan to tackle internal financial crisis and cement its friendly relations with the US Government.
And history is repeating itself in the sense that the US Government had to approach Islamabad for cooperation in its plan of waging a war against terrorism. No doubt the decision of the Pakistan President, Gen Pervez Musharraf, to cooperate with America has not been as spontaneous as was the case with Gen Zia-ul-Haq because this time the Taliban are on the American hitlist. In fact, the Taliban are an ISI creation and Pakistan has granted recognition to them, thereby ensuring cordial relations with Kabul.
Analysts had predicted that Pakistan might get under the American “debris”, but General Musharraf has started playing his cards with caution. He has placed three main demands before the US Government. Two demands are directly related to India, thereby causing concern among those political and security circles that had envisaged a tough going for Pakistan and an end to the proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir.
By seeking American assurance that it would intervene to resolve the Kashmir issue and non-inclusion of India in the likely attack on Afghanistan, Islamabad is trying to keep the Kashmir question alive even after the US Government settles its score with those encouraging global terrorism.
By demanding that India should not be involved in the anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan, General Musharraf, according to observers here, is trying to isolate India so that the pace of friendly relations growing between New Delhi and Washington is halted.
No doubt India has rejected, on several occasions, any demand for a third-party intervention on the Kashmir issue, it is yet to be seen whether Washington will buckle under the Pakistan pressure.
Kashmir experts here are of the opinion that if the US Government allows Pakistan some sort of leverage on Kashmir, the American war against terrorism will not be a total success. According to these observers, global terrorism will not end till Pakistan is forced to stop encouraging and aiding cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.
Several mainstream political leaders, including those belonging to the National Conference and the BJP, are worried over the latest developments which have allowed Pakistan an opportunity to improve its bargaining capacity. They have fears that Pakistan’s territorial proximity with Afghanistan may force the US Government to accept some of the demands put forth by Islamabad.
These political leaders do not seem as much concerned over the demand of Pakistan for waiving the massive loan or on the exclusion of India in the likely attack on Afghanistan as they are about Islamabad’s bit to keep the Kashmir issue alive while seeking American mediation.
