September 18, 1999	atimes.com

India/Pakistan India pushes diplomatic drive against jihadists By Ranjit Dev Raj NEW DELHI - India is seeking a concerted international effort in battling Muslim fundamentalist ''terrorism'' in a new diplomatic drive aimed at containing cross-border incursion in Kashmir - which it accuses Pakistan of sponsoring. India, which initially insisted that the dispute with Pakistan over its northern state was strictly bilateral, now sees merit in ''internationalizing'' the issue, placing it in the larger context of the rapid spread of Islamic terrorism. Critical to internationalizing jihadist ''terrorism'' is the arrival in New Delhi on Friday of Michael Sheehan, coordinator for counter-terrorism in the US State Department. Sheehan is expected to hold talks with Alok Prasad and Vivek Katju, two key Indian officials who were in Washington earlier this month to attend a review of Islamic fundamentalism spilling over from war-torn Afghanistan. High on the agenda is the recent five-week long fight between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, primarily because India believes mercenaries from Afghanistan are involved. Indian security forces involved in counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir have been pointing to the presence of Afghan mujahideen for some years. According to Madhavan Palat at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, the perceived world interest in containing the jihadists, or those participating in an Islamic holy war, has presented India with an opportunity to rehabilitate its global image. ''In the process, India has gained a major advantage in its long-standing dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir and is now well-positioned to take several initiatives,'' Palat added. Although US assistance is welcomed, Palat warned that any US involvement in the region would be mediated by its interest in Central Asian petroleum deposits which it would like to see piped out through Turkey and monitored by a friendly or pliable Russia. Other analysts such as C Raja Mohan say that while there is a new convergence of interests between India and the US on terrorism and Afghanistan, it is not clear how far Washington is willing to go. ''The presumed need for Pakistani cooperation in apprehending Osama bin Laden and other wanted terrorists hiding out in Afghanistan has prevented the Clinton administration from seriously confronting Pakistani terrorism.'' India is cautiously optimistic that the US is not the only nation concerned with the spread of Islamic militants in South Asia. Russian Prime Minister Vladmir Putin chose to make a short stop in New Delhi Tuesday on his way back to Moscow from the Asia Pacific Economic Conference summit in Auckland. Putin left the summit early because of the second of a series of blasts in Moscow said to be the handiwork of Chechen Islamic fundamentalists. Though his visit was brief, Putin spent enough time in New Delhi to discuss threats to the region from Islamic fundamentalist terrorism with National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra and condemn Pakistan's ''open endorsement'' of militant groups like the Afghan Lashkar-i-Toiba (Soldiers of God), the government said. New Delhi has strongly supported the steps taken by Moscow to tackle insurgency in Dagestan and Indian Foreign Secretary K Raghunathan is currently in Moscow to discuss a strategic partnership on the issue. A series of terrorist acts in Central Asia have awakened countries in the region to the threat from the mountains to its south. Last Sunday, Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh mooted an Asian collective arrangement to counter cross-border terorrism at the meeting of the 17-member Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building in Central Asia in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Palat said the special focus on Islamic terrorism at the conference was directly triggered by the spillover of insurgency from Afghanistan and Pakistan into Central Asian countries such as Kyrghystan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India appears to be winning in its efforts to get the international community involved in jihadist ''terrorism''. Involvement, Raja Mohan insists, is exactly what is needed: ''The war against [Islamic] terrorism in the sub-continent will not be won without significant cooperation with the great powers.'' (Inter Press Service)

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