The Hindu : `Sea change in U.S. perception of India'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jun 16, 2002

International

International

`Sea change in U.S. perception of India'

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

Washington June 15. There is a sea change in the attitude and perceptions towards India on the part of the United States, one that is punctuated by a remarkable degree of understanding on where India is coming from on a number of issues including terrorism, says the former High Commissioner of India to Pakistan, G. Parthasarathy.

Mr. Parthasarathy was a part of a four-member delegation that spent some time here discussing with a broad spectrum of people including lawmakers on Capitol Hill on a range of issues that had a bearing on the subcontinent and relations between the U.S. and India.

The delegation visited Capitol Hill. It also met members of the House Armed Services Committee and the Task Force on Terrorism. The delegation which included Arjun Ray, B. Raman and Indernil Banerjee had discussions with leading think-tanks and the National Defence University.

On the issue of Kashmir and India-Pakistan relations, it is being pointed out that relations between the two South Asian countries would not improve even if the Kashmir issue was resolved. For instance, it was no less a person than the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, who said in 1999 that low intensity conflict with India would continue even if Kashmir was resolved.

An argument has been made that there is enough in the literature and policy statements in Pakistan that shows the eventual goal is to "bleed India with a thousand cuts'', a strategy that goes much beyond Kashmir — to support different separatist movements and to weaken India as a plural society.

Further, the delegation said that during the deliberations between India and Pakistan between 1972 and 1989, Pakistan had never said that Kashmir was a "core issue'' in bilateral relations; and this whole thing began only when armed militants were sent across the Line of Control.

Mr. Parthasarathy, for instance, pointed out that apart from the understanding of the Indian viewpoint, there was a tremendous appreciation for the kind of restraint shown by India especially in the aftermath of the December 13 attack on India's Parliament.

In the context of the ongoing campaign against terrorism, the U.S. must keep in mind a number of things especially as it pertains to the role of Pakistan, both generally and in the context of the goings-on in the subcontinent.

For instance, it is not easy for anyone to come over the Line of Control and there is ample proof that the infrastructure of terrorism has the full and complete handwriting of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) which includes using India's open border with Nepal for smuggling people and counterfeiting. Pakistan has to give up terror as an instrument of state policy, the delegation stressed.

The U.S., in the opinion of the delegation members, would have to push for a "Comprehensive Plan'' on the part of Pakistan while coming to terms with terrorism. First, the military in that country would have to head back to the barracks; second, the revamping of the intelligence machinery which has now become fully "militarised'' under Gen. Musharraf; and third, Islamabad would have to be kept on a "tight leash'' by Washington.

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