The Hindu : Towards de-escalation

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Oct 18, 2002

Opinion

Opinion - Editorials

Towards de-escalation

NEW DELHI'S DECISION to withdraw the army from forward locations on the border with Pakistan, where it has been deployed since December last year, is a positive development although it will be a while before it is fully implemented on the ground. The Defence Minister, George Fernandes, has claimed that the decision by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) was based on a cost-benefit analysis, conducted by the National Security Advisory Board and submitted to the National Security Council, that the disadvantages of the continued deployment far outweighed the advantages. This statement is however not sufficient to dispel the impression that sustained pressure from the U.S. and other interested third parties formed a substantial part of the inputs that went into the decision. The successful completion of the election in Jammu and Kashmir provided the Cabinet with sufficient wriggle room to extricate itself from a position which New Delhi should have suo motu recognised as an untenable one a long time ago. Coercive diplomacy as practised by New Delhi had blurred its own case as to which was the aggrieved party and which the belligerent. Instead of fully utilising the potential to focus global attention on the terrorist threat that it faces, New Delhi had caused international diplomatic energies to be frittered away in efforts to block armed conflict between two nuclear-armed adversaries. International consternation was further compounded when New Delhi did not heed the opportunities that it had to de-escalate and did not seem to appreciate that there were limits both to the quantum of third party pressure that could be applied and the results it could achieve. If, at the end of the day, cross-border infiltration has only been reduced and not eliminated the question that naturally arises is whether this outcome could not have been wrought through a more effective and creative deployment of the diplomatic energies that were dissipated in dealing with the concerns raised by the forward deployment.

Islamabad has declared that it would make a positive and timely response. Once Pakistan too withdraws its troops from positions close to the border there should be a reduction of the tensions that have stayed at intolerable levels. Both armies will continue in a state of proximate hostility along the Line of Control but this situation is not outside the norm. Since the intent to de-escalate has already been signalled, the logical next step would be to revive full diplomatic relations and initiate other confidence building measures. A resumption of the dialogue to resolve all outstanding issues ought to follow without undue delay. While India's concerns about cross-border terrorism are not unwarranted, New Delhi must recognise that it needs to address other dimensions of the Kashmir situation besides the military or security related aspects. Militancy in the valley cannot be comprehensively and effectively brought to an end until and unless the people are persuaded to believe they have reason to rally to India's cause. They will do so only when New Delhi uses the opportunity created by the successful elections to the State Assembly to allow for the re-establishment of good governance at the local level and thereby reaffirm the moral authority of the Indian state.

The manner in which the personnel of the Indian army were exposed to a high-tension situation throughout the summer months with hardly a break and on the basis of fuzzy politics also needs to be addressed. Besides the financial costs, which have not been disclosed but must be substantial, this deployment has exposed the troops to wear and tear and blunted the preparedness of the army. There is a need for the public and responsible sections of the political class to seriously examine the process whereby a Government shifts an expensive war machine into battle-ready mode without adequate thought and then keeps it deployed in a state of high readiness beyond the dictates of all logic.

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