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By C. Raja Mohan
A definitive assessment of Pakistan's pledges on cross-border terrorism to Washington and London has become the key to further progress on de-escalating military tensions in the subcontinent, informed sources here say. India had bilateral institutional arrangements with the U.S. and the U.K. to share intelligence on terrorism. The emphasis now was on greater coordination and sharper focus to get a clear assessment of the emerging trends across the LoC, the sources add. Positive conclusions from the cooperative assessment and further progress on Pakistan's part to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism on its soil could lead to additional moves by India to ease the military standoff. Asked when India could take new steps for military de-escalation, the External Affairs Minister, Jaswant Singh, today said, "the situation is pregnant with possibilities''. He was briefing reporters here after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security this afternoon. The CCS, chaired by the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, reviewed the developments on the Indo-Pak front since the U.S. launched a high profile diplomatic initiative to defuse tensions between India and Pakistan. Until now, India had relied on its own national technical means to get a sense of Pakistan's efforts to push terrorists across the LoC. But now it could benefit from high quality intelligence inputs from the U.S. and the U.K. in judging the infiltration trends. The Bush administration which is making a serious bid to defuse the military tensions in the subcontinent is believed to have devoted a significant amount of its own national technical assets to monitor the infiltration across the LoC. The U.S. has been pressing Gen. Musharraf to crack down on cross-border terrorism while urging India to de-escalate the military tensions. India has announced some diplomatic and military steps to demonstrate as a good gesture and is willing to consider additional steps if Gen. Musharraf implements his promises. A cooperative assessment by India and the Anglo-American powers is expected to generate greater political confidence in Islamabad that Gen. Musharraf's actions are being assessed appropriately in New Delhi. Intelligence sharing among India, the U.S. and the U.K. will initially focus on infiltration but could expand eventually to cover the future actions of Gen. Musharraf on dismantling the infrastructure of terrorism on the Pakistani soil. Intelligence-sharing with the U.S. and the U.K. is very different, informed sources say, from the ongoing public debate about the kind of technology needed for a physical mechanism on the LoC to verify an end to infiltration. After the CCS meeting today Mr. Singh strongly reaffirmed the Government's opposition to any foreign forces on the LoC to monitor infiltration. "There is no proposal,'' he declared, for militaries on the LoC "other than Indian forces''. India insists that any mechanism on the ground must be bilateral between New Delhi and Islamabad, such as joint patrolling. The U.S. has apparently offered technical assistance, in the form of sensors to India and Pakistan in developing such a mechanism. Asked about the U.S. offer, Mr. Singh said New Delhi and Washington were discussing the proposal. "There is no decision on it,'' Mr. Singh said. "The decision is only to study the subject.'' The question of sensors may acquire a new salience, however, if and when New Delhi and Islamabad agree on a mechanism for monitoring the Line of Control. Officials here insist that there can be no role for any other nation in this monitoring mechanism. "Technology can be the only third party,'' one of them quipped. On the prospect of a political dialogue with Pakistan, Mr. Singh reiterated that Pakistan must first create "a conducive atmosphere'' by implementing its promises to the international community on cross-border terrorism.
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