Choose between jehadis and modernity, Gujral tells Pak.

By K. K. Katyal

NEW DELHI, NOV. 30. The former Prime Minister, Mr. I.K. Gujral, has drawn attention to the danger posed by Talibanisation of Pakistan to its civil society, apart from adverse effects on India and the rest of the region. Pakistan, he says, has to decide whether it wishes to be a state based on the fundamentalist prescriptions or a modern state in tune with the new economic and sociological realities, whether its policies are to be determined by the jehadis or by the modern requirements of the global economy and composite societies.

In a comprehensive perspective of foreign policy issues, in this year's Adm. R.D. Katari memorial lecture (in the memory of the first Indian naval chief), Mr. Gujral dealt with the current state of relations with the U.S., Russia, China - and of course, Pakistan. Welcoming the Prime Minister, Mr. A.B. Vajpayee's ceasefire offer, he hoped that Pakistan would ``take positive note of this initiative and join hands in restoring the atmosphere of peace and amity in the subcontinent''.

Mullah-army alliance

Even regions and countries far away from Afghanistan were now haunted by the spectre of Talibanism that targeted many Islamic countries too. What concerned India was the increasing adoption of the jehadi dogma by the ruling juntas in Pakistan ``where the mullah-army alliance poses a threat to the civil societies at home and abroad.'' The realisation of its dangers by major powers was evident, he said, from the Indo-U.S. and Indo-Russian statements, as also the concern expressed by the Shangai-Five led by China.

Happy at the new opening in India's relations with the U.S., he had this to say of the tasks ahead: ``The long shadow of the Cold War has disappeared and in the new millennium in which the new economic situation has made the old suspicions and enmities irrelevant, it defies logic why the United States and India should not strive for a high level of understanding and cooperation in meeting the problems of poverty and backwardness. It is now accepted that we must cooperate with each other and with other world powers to overcome the rising menaces of terrorisms and fundamentalisms.'' The new partnership must triumph over passing differences and ephemeral alliances.

His view of the new relationship with Russia: ``Russia continues to meet our defence equipment requirements. It supports our bid for a permanent seat in the Security Council and it is not asking India to align itself against anybody. Both India and Russia, as President Putin said here, are victims of the same forces of international terrorism. My understanding of `strategic partnership' is intensive interaction and co-operation in bilateral relations and on major issues of the world, and not a hostile combination against anybody. We are no longer living in a world that compels to choose between one or the other. India fully understands this and is not trying to choose one or the other.''

As for China, he saw promise of beneficial cooperation in the recent developments. ``It is true that for many years China encouraged, both materially and otherwise, some of our neighbours in their adversarial policies towards India and provided significant nuclear assistance, but we would like to seize the opportunities opened up by the new era in world affairs to turn the India-China relations around. Naturally, this process has to be mutual and reciprocal. Their political and our social systems are distinctly different, yet the new world situation does provide a bridge between nations, so too between India and China.

``With this in mind, the two neighbouring nations have been trying to sort out the vexed border issues. Progress in this context is slow and sometimes the real or imaginary road blocks have slowed the forward movement. Of late, there are signs of changes in the outlooks and policies to draw a mutually acceptable Line of Actual Control on the contested borders.''

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