Policy and Pakistan: India lays it
out By Siddharth Srivastava
NEW DELHI - In his first-ever press conference
on Tuesday, Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh
outlined the direction the new Congress-led United
Progressive Alliance's (UPA) foreign policy would take,
meanwhile also making an attempt to quell the ongoing
war of words between India and Pakistan.
While
the conference marked the expected announcement of the
timetable for the composite dialogue process between
India and Pakistan - slated for this month - Singh's
interaction marked the sketching of the overall
parameters that will govern the new government's
approach to peace.
In a sign of maturity in
handling tricky relations with Pakistan, Singh sought to
lower temperatures by saying that the Indian government
was familiar with the "intricacies, complexities,
emotions and suspicions" of Indo-Pak relations and that
the first dictum of a diplomat is "to think carefully
before saying nothing". Singh said the relationship has
to be based on "trust, frankness - not fear". Indeed,
the bulk of his one-hour conference dealt with
India-Pakistan relations.
Singh sought to lay to
rest any controversy created by his earlier statement
that Pakistan should try to imbibe some of the tenets of
the Sino-India model, wherein border disputes have been
set aside to push forward on other issues. "No public
announcement has been made that the border [with
Kashmir] could not be altered; the plebiscite issue
[again in Kashmir] was dead, the Shimla agreement was
the bedrock of bilateral relations and no formal
proposal has been made about applying the India-China
model to Pakistan," he said, in a clear message to
Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf, who had
taken umbrage to Singh's earlier statements.
In
a veiled acknowledgment of the progress under the
government of former prime minister Atal Bihari, Singh
said India was committed to the Lahore Declaration of
1999 as well as the joint press statement issued by the
two countries (when Vajpayee met Musharraf in
Islamabad). "We are not running a static or sterile
foreign policy," said Singh. "No policy statement has
been made about turning the Line of Control into an
international border."
Singh, however, made it
apparent that the Indian government was not very
appreciative of Musharraf's phone call to Vajpayee on
Monday in which the Pakistani premier urged the former
prime minister to play an active role in guiding
Indo-Pak relations. Singh said it would take "50 years"
to reach the level of belligerent statements made by
Vajpayee on Pakistan in the past. Singh, however,
reiterated that the new Indian leadership wanted
friendship with Musharraf if he so desired, insisting
that New Delhi was determined to discuss "whatever they
want", be it Kashmir, nuclear issues or terrorism.
Besides discussing relations with Pakistan,
Singh also placed a high premium on relations with the
Islamic world, announcing that he would travel to Oman
and the United Arab Emirates on June 10. "We attach the
greatest importance to the Islamic world," he said.
Building bridges with Islamic countries is likely to
form an important part of Singh's agenda, even as
Indians become increased targets of attack by terrorist
groups associated with al-Qaeda. Eight Indians lost
their lives in the hostage-taking at al-Khobar in Saudi
Arabia over the weekend. A website with alleged links to
al-Qaeda has posted that the killings were a revenge for
the atrocities on Muslims in Kashmir.
Singh also
delved into other issues of foreign policy, especially
those relating to the United States, which is going to
devolve further in the near future. Reiterating its
shift away from the earlier regime, Singh made it
apparent that there is going to be a rethink on the
position taken by the Vajpayee government supporting the
US on its anti-ballistic-missile shield plan. Singh said
the new cabinet committee on security will look at the
issue "very minutely". In a clear indication that the
current regime will likely move away from the alleged
"pro-US" tilt of the previous government, Singh quoted
the late Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi, who had
said, "We stand straight, we do not have any tilt," in
response to a question about India's "pro-Soviet" bias.
The new foreign minister drew a distinction
between the Non-Aligned Movement and non-alignment,
pointing out that the former needed a renovation and
reinvention because the world in which it played an
important role no longer exists. The new agenda has to
revolve around terrorism, AIDS, hunger, poverty
alleviation, and other problems faced by underdeveloped
countries, he said.
Singh, however, made it
clear that the new government isn't likely to stray from
the approach taken by the previous regime on the issue
of sending troops to Iraq to assist the operations of US
forces, making mention of Spain and Honduras withdrawing
troops from Iraq. The Congress while in opposition last
year had opposed Indian troops being sent to Iraq even
as the Vajpayee government dithered over the issue.
Without naming any nation, Singh referred to the
weakening and bypassing of the United Nations with no
country unilaterally deciding on regime change.
The minister also hinted at a brand-new policy
revolving around a common nuclear doctrine among India,
Pakistan and China. The idea of a common nuclear
doctrine is the first substantive announcement by the
government, though Singh did not discuss it in detail.
It is still at a philosophical and nascent stage, he
said. "The UPA wants a mechanism for nuclear-risk
reduction as it affects the security of the entire
world," said Singh. "It's not a question of scoring
points with anyone. It is to ensure that all inherent
dangers disappear," he said. India subscribes to a
no-first-use policy when it comes to nuclear weapons,
which has been rejected by Pakistan as a deterrent
against India's conventional military superiority. Singh
also reiterated that India's nuclear policy is
transparent, unlike in Pakistan, where Abdul Qadeer Khan
- the nuclear scientist who has admitted to leaking
nuclear secrets - had been running a private program.
The position that the Pakistani government was not aware
of Khan's activities "does injury to our intelligence",
said Singh.
On Israel, Singh made it clear that
while India looks forward to furthering relations with
Israel, peace in the Middle East is not possible without
involving Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Singh said
India had favored the creation of two states when Israel
came into existence.
To conclude, in its first
major move on foreign policy, the new government has let
it be known that while the achievements of the previous
regime will be furthered, there is going to be an
independent line of thought on several other issues. One
can only hope for the best.
Siddharth
Srivastava is a New Delhi-based journalist.
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