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By Atul Aneja
In an exclusive interview to The Hindu, Mr. Gujral felt that the Prime Minister could utilise a preliminary contact with Gen. Musharraf to "highlight the common threat posed by terrorism to the civil society of both India and Pakistan. We should then wait for his (President Musharraf's) response'' before taking any further step. Emphasising the importance of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures (CICA) summit at Almaty and advocating greater emphasis on diplomacy to defuse existing Indo-Pak. military tensions, Mr. Gujral felt that the Prime Minister should also not miss the opportunity of holding crucial bilateral discussions with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and, if possible, with the Chinese President, Jiang Zemin, apart from engaging the Central Asian heads. "All diplomatic options have to be exhausted. War is a desperate last option,'' he observed. Reiterating the importance of diplomacy in situations of military stand-offs, Mr. Gujral was the view that the Vajpayee Government should "dust the files of 1970'' in order to reacquaint itself with the importance of the eight months of high-profile global interaction that preceded the 1971 war. In giving diplomacy a chance, a meeting with Mr. Putin in Almaty will be especially relevant, Mr. Gujral observed. Russia, he said, after its recent accommodation within the NATO framework and its deepening engagement with the United States, is now echoing as well influencing the sentiments of a much larger segment of the world. Mr. Putin, who is also expected to meet the Pakistan President in Almaty "will help Gen. Musharraf see the light that sympathy with terrorism in India goes contrary to Pakistan's own interests.'' Russia on account of its "sweet'' relations with China can also catalyse an anti-terror linkage among India, China and Pakistan. As "victims of terrorism'', India can also impress upon China on the need for expanding their common ground on countering extremism apart from flagging off its interest for a presence in a modified Shanghai-6. The grouping, which revolves around the principle of counter-terrorism, had been formed to block the spread of the Taliban's influence into Central Asia and includes, besides Russia and China, four Central Asian Republics. Acquainting China with its disposition towards the Shanghai-6 becomes all the more important as Pakistan, which has special ties with China, has also shown an interest in becoming a member of this grouping. Mr. Gujral acknowledged that China, on account its common border with India, has always been a factor in influencing the extent to which India could deploy its troops in the western sector, facing Pakistan. The CICA conference, Mr. Gujral hoped, would see India exerting itself for forging a "joint front'' that would encourage Pakistan to contain terrorism directed at it. In response to a question, he advocated a three-stage "road map'' that can lead to phased reduction of tensions between India and Pakistan. "The first step is Almaty, where participants can make Pakistan understand that terrorism like chastity is indivisible.'' Pakistan, then, can take steps that satisfy the international community that its efforts at comprehensively countering terrorism are "credible.'' Without mentioning troop reductions from the border, Mr. Gujral said that the creation of an atmosphere that leads to the "dilution of tensions and promotion of incremental steps that are necessary for building constructive relationship'' could be the necessary third step in the direction of peace. To a question, Mr. Gujral acknowledged that the disproportionate influence of the Pakistani military top brass in its political establishment had become an inherent obstacle in building a closer Indo-Pak. relationship. Referring to the legacy of the late Pakistan President, Zia-Ul-Haq, Mr. Gujral felt that "there were some experts who believed that without building an image of an enemy, the armed forces lobby in Pakistan cannot allocate to itself such a large portion of the national cake.'' Nevertheless, he was optimistic that Pakistan's "strong and articulate civil society'' in tandem with the influence of a powerful media and political parties will bring about meaningful change in Islamabad. Taking an overview of Indian diplomacy in facing the challenge of terrorism, Mr. Gujral was of the view that New Delhi's on-going effort to engage the "international community'', needed to be urgently supplemented by the reinforcement of a closer relationship with its South Asian neighbours. "I am unable to understand and appreciate why so little attention is being paid to create an ambience of national unity and generating a sentiment in the neighbourhood that is in India's favour. Proliferation of terrorism in South Asia should be of as deep a concern to us as the import of terrorists across the Line of Control,'' he said. Reinforcement of SAARC that can help bring together the people of the region under the rubric of peaceful South Asian community in the future had become indispensable, he stressed.
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