The elusive spirit of restraint

THE SPIRALLING RHETORIC on the India-Pakistan front shows how intense are the hard feelings that the Governments on both sides seem inclined to let fly at each other like some uncontrollable sparks. Admittedly, the two countries are very wary of each other's real intentions in a tremendously complex regional context. The growing bilateral tensions are, in a sense, traceable to last month's strategic decision by Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's President and Chief Executive, to cooperate with the United States in its war, now under way, against Afghanistan. Relevant to this is the emotional upheaval, which is being felt differently by the people of India and Pakistan, on account of the uncontested belief that Afghanistan's Taliban regime, presently under fire from the U.S., had in the first place owed its genetical links to Islamabad itself. The extent of Pakistan's benign or reformatory influence over Osama bin Laden, the Taliban's patron-guest and America's prime target now, is of secondary importance to New Delhi and Islamabad in this context. An overall regional ambience so perceived seems to have spurred the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, in his latest poser to Pakistan. The burden of his tactical taunt is that Pakistan, which is ``waging a war'' against its own Taliban, can hardly be trustworthy as a dialogue partner.

In a chronological sequence, Mr. Vajpayee's doubts over Pakistan's credentials as a credible interlocutor have only followed Gen. Musharraf's intemperate warnings. Gen. Musharraf asserted only a day earlier that Islamabad would ``teach India a lesson'' if it were to opt for any military ``mischief'' on the bilateral front at this particularly fragile moment in their relationship. The surmise in Gen. Musharraf's official camp at this stage seems to be that India has no business to quarrel with Pakistan if it has been able to join the U.S.-led ``international coalition against terrorism''. The subtle point at issue is that Washington is willing to accept Islamabad as a key player in this unpredictable venture despite New Delhi's line against Pakistan's encouragement of cross-border terrorism within India. In New Delhi's perspective, Pakistan's geostrategic location rather than its `moral' stature should explain the current convergence of interests concerning Washington's ``anti-terror'' war and Islamabad's new foreign policy orientation. New Delhi, provoked by Gen. Musharraf's latest remarks, is now squandering the sign of restraint which it signalled only a few days ago when it clarified that it had no intention for the present to embark on ``hot pursuit'' of the Kashmir-related terrorists inside the territory controlled by Pakistan.

Mr. Vajpayee clearly wants to put Pakistan in the dock on the international stage by pointing out the perceived inconsistencies in Gen. Musharraf's foreign policy. The Prime Minister has asked Pakistan to choose either peace or animosity in relation to India without mincing words or quibbling about policy. Mr. Vajpayee may naturally be eager to let the global community know India's point of view. However, his parallel move to slam the door on the idea of re-engaging Pakistan seems to presage a new and dangerous drift on the bilateral scene. So, both he and Gen. Musharraf must face the true test of statesmanship by reining in the rhetoric so that it does not become a blighted substitute for a genuine and sustainable dialogue. Pakistan's latest `demarche' to India in regard to some statements by its Home and Defence Ministers, Mr. L. K. Advani and Mr. George Fernandes respectively, is illustrative of how far Islamabad has gone down the path of confrontation in a context that has more to do with America's strategic compulsions. While New Delhi is right in wanting to avoid a ``sterile'' debate with Islamabad over each other's rhetoric, it will be unwise to give up the search for a possible re-engagement between the two.

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Section  : Opinion
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