Bombs spur India-Pakistan peace
process By Siddharth Srivastava
NEW DELHI - The twin bomb blasts on Monday
on the Samjhauta "peace train" near Panipat in the
northern Indian state of Haryana could, for the
first time, draw Pakistan and India closer
together in a common front against terror.
At least 66 people - both Indians and
Pakistanis - died and scores were injured when the
bombs went off on the Pakistan-bound train about
80 kilometers north of New Delhi.
Leaders
in both Islamabad and Delhi have condemned the
attack, rather than point fingers at each other,
as normally happens when
such
incidents occur. There is even talk of Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh visiting Islamabad soon, a
trip that was put on indefinite hold after serial
bomb blasts on trains in Mumbai last July killed
close to 200 people and injured more than 300.
Pakistan has described the attack as
"horrendous" and played down the lapse of Indian
security forces that resulted in the bombs being
planted inside the train, most probably at Delhi
station.
"We will not allow elements which
want to sabotage the ongoing peace process and
succeed in their nefarious designs," President
General Pervez Musharraf said in a statement.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz called
Manmohan on Monday to express his condolences.
In a sign that the nascent peace process
between India and Pakistan endures, Pakistani
Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri will keep
to his schedule to hold talks with his
counterpart, Pranab Mukherjee, in Delhi this week.
The thinking in Delhi appears to be that
while there are elements within the Pakistani
establishment that continue to harbor terrorists,
the only way forward is through talks toward a
long-term solution to the countries' fractious
ties. This approach is meant to create a
constituency of people who will support the two
countries being at peace. Included would be
relatives who could travel between the countries,
tourists and business people.
Manmohan
in Pakistan? India and Pakistan have come
a long way since the Kargil incident in 1999, when
an incursion by Pakistani troops into Indian
territory nearly set off a full-scale war. Despite
major setbacks such as the attacks on Mumbai
trains, the peace process has held and the
countries continue to interact with each other at
various levels, including official, cultural,
sports, transport, tourism and trade contacts.
However, there has been no major
breakthrough, especially on the core issues of
Kashmir and terrorism. Pakistani militants have
fought a decades-long battle to have the
Indian-administered section of Kashmir
incorporated into Pakistan, while India has
routinely accused Pakistan of sponsoring terrorism
in India.
Commenting on his delayed trip
to Pakistan, Manmohan said recently, "I have
received an invitation which I have accepted. I am
looking forward to the visit. But when I visit I
should do some substantive business. I have always
been hopeful, but there is many a slip between cup
and the lip."
On another occasion,
Manmohan called for a treaty of peace and
friendship with Pakistan. "I dream of a day when,
while retaining our respective national
identities, one can have breakfast in Amritsar
[India], lunch in Lahore [Pakistan] and dinner in
Kabul [Afghanistan]. That is how my forefathers
lived. That is how I want our grandchildren to
live." Manmohan, a Sikh, was born in what is now
Pakistan before partition of British India in
1947.
Last month, Musharraf sprang
something of a surprise on India by announcing
that he will not to attend a multilateral forum in
Delhi in April as he wants Manmohan to visit
Islamabad first.
Musharraf's decision was
conveyed to Mukherjee, who was on a two-day visit
to Pakistan. Kasuri said, "The president of
Pakistan has already visited India in 2005. It is
the turn of the prime minister to visit Pakistan.
It will be considered more appropriate for the
president to visit India after the prime minister
has paid a return visit."
The last time an
Indian premier visited Pakistan was when Atal
Bihari Vajpayee launched the peace process in
January 2004. Since taking office in 2004,
Manmohan has been to the United States and Delhi
hosted President George W Bush last March, a visit
that resulted in the signing of a historic
civilian nuclear deal as well as taking Indo-US
trade and defense relations to a new level.
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited
India recently to announce Moscow's intention to
help India build nuclear reactors, as well as
offering energy sops and defense cooperation. Top
Chinese leaders have also visited India and
declared substantial progress on border and trade
issues.
While matters related to economic
progress interest Manmohan, Pakistan links free
trade with India to the resolution of all issues
connected with Indian-administered Kashmir.
Musharraf has even suggested converting the Indian
and Pakistani sections of Kashmir into a
self-governed demilitarized zone. This would only
be the remotest bit possible, though, through
protracted negotiations.
Certainly,
Manmohan does not want to go to Pakistan just for
the photo opportunities. One suggestion is that
should he go, the leaders seal a deal over the
high-altitude Siachen Glacier in the disputed
Kashmir region where soldiers from the two
countries have faced off for years.
Last
year, Indian National Security Adviser M K
Narayanan said his country and Pakistan were
"closer" to a "final point" on the Siachen
problem. Then, Manmohan hinted that the countries
were close to a breakthrough on the
6,000-meter-high Siachen, calling it a "mountain
of peace". But this was before last July's Mumbai
blasts.
Since then the peace process has
limped along, with an India-Pakistan anti-terror
panel set up last year scheduled to hold its first
meeting next month in Islamabad. Discussions will
include intelligence sharing, Siachen, and now the
circumstances of the Samjhauta attack.
Over the past months there appears to have
been a degree of listlessness in the Indian
leadership in dealing with Pakistan, while the
leaders there have been preoccupied with problems
in the tribal areas adjoining Afghanistan where
the Taliban have emerged as a strong force.
Musharraf also has powerful forces in the army and
intelligence community opposed to any deals with
India, not to mention strong Islamic factions with
the same view.
The Samjhauta attack could
just be the catalyst needed to spur the two sides
out of their lethargy, and for Manmohan to made
his long-overdue trip to Islamabad.
Siddharth Srivastava is a New
Delhi-based journalist.
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