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It was a minor skirmish an insiginifant event in the history of South Asia. It happened on November 10, 1659. The Mighty Mughal Empire was crushing a mosquito with artillary and a huge army. The incident would have passed as “all in a days work” but for the treachery of the invertebrate Shivaji. Shiva portrayed the height of recreant behaviour on meeting the Mughal General Mughal Khan under the white flag of truce. The pusillanimous Shiva while embracing Afzal Khan during a meeting to discuss peace, embraced the Mughal, and then in one of the most dispicable manner took out his dagger and plunged it deep into the heart of Afzal Khan. The blood flowing from Afzal Khan proved to the world the treachery and crafty cunning of cowardly Shivaji.

The first meeting between Bharti Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Preisident Asif Zardari reminded the world of a similar meeting several centuries ago. Mr. Singh met Mr. Zardari under the white flag of truce, but During the initial introduction Mr. Singh displayed Shivji like behaviour. Mr. Zardari was so disgusted, that he sent Mr. Gilani for the next meeting.

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) – Pakistan’s prime minister said on Tuesday he hoped a meeting in Egypt with his Indian counterpart would get peace talks back on track after last year’s Mumbai attacks.

India’s foreign minister described Thursday’s planned meeting, on the sidelines of a Non-Aligned Movement summit in Egypt’s resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, as “crucial.”

Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said the two countries, which have fought three wars since independence in 1947, had been “moving in the right direction” until last November’s militant attacks on Mumbai that killed 175 people.

He said the attacks, and the freeze that India then put on the talks, had only benefited the militants.

“When there will be more interaction, I think that will pave the way for the composite dialogue and for more interaction with the Indian government,” he said as he set off for Egypt.

“I am sure that such interactions would be really beneficial for the country,” Gilani said.

Speaking in Sharm el-Sheikh, Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna declined to elaborate on what his prime minister, Manmohan Singh, would discuss with Gilani.

“Let us wait for the outcome of that crucial meeting,” Krishna told reporters. Top diplomats from the two countries were due to meet later on Tuesday or Wednesday.

India said the Mumbai assault was carried out by Pakistani militants who must have had help from Pakistani security agents. Pakistan has denied any involvement by state agencies and says it will prosecute militants suspected of involvement. Reuters. By Rina Chandran. India says Pakistan talks “crucial”. Tue Jul 14, 2009 2:16pm EDT

Pakistan want a composite, results oriented diaologue that can resolve the territorial disputes with Bharat. Bharat simply wants to use these sorts of meetings to malign Pakistan.

Tensions over Kashmir distract Pakistan from the task of combating al-Qaeda and Taliban terrorists operating in its tribal regions bordering Afghanistan, said Daniel Markey, a senior fellow for India, Pakistan and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington.

The Kashmir dispute “has direct implications for Washington’s ability to support a stable Afghan state and to address the threat posed by terrorist groups in South Asia,” Markey said, according to the Web site of the Council, an independent think tank. Bloomberg

Map of Pakistani Azad Kashmir, Pakistani Northern Areas and Indian Occupied Kashmir

There are many types of peace. It is obvious that India has neither the capacity nor the wherewithal to impose peace of the sort that exists between the Native Americans and the US government. India is not Israel and Pakistan is not the Gaza strip. If Israel with all its might could not force an unequal peace on unequal partners (Syria, Palestinians and Lebanon) it is also very obvious that Delhi cannot impose peace on Pakistan the same way. Bharat could not break up Lanka and make it Kowtow to Bharat. It cannot force Pakistan. It has to woo Pakistanis if she wants peace on her Western borders.

Peace is always in the mutual interest of parties tied up in conflict. One party does not do the other party any favors. It is the height of arrogance to convey the impression that peace talks are a reward for good behavior of one party. By portraying Pakistan as the guilty party, Delhi sabotages any prospect for peace. If the Americans and the Russians can smoke the peace pipe, so can the Indians and the Pakistanis–however it has to be done on the basis of dignity and mutual respect, not diktat and dictation.

THIRD MEETING

The meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh will be the third high-level bilateral talks since the bloodshed in Mumbai. Singh met Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in Russia last month, and the foreign ministers met recently in Italy.

Pakistan is keen to revive the five-year-old “composite dialogue” covering all disputes between the two countries. But Singh has insisted it must first show it is serious about taking action against militant groups that launch attacks in the Indian part of the disputed Kashmir region and elsewhere in India.

Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said at the weekend Pakistan had completed its investigation into five suspects accused of links to the Mumbai attack, and they were expected to be put on trial this week.

Pakistan also handed a fresh dossier on its probe into the attack to India on Saturday. The suspects include Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, a commander of the banned Laskhar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group, who is accused of masterminding the attack.

Singh, who has said he was willing to meet Pakistan “more than half way” if it cracked down on militants, may be prompted to make a conciliatory gesture ahead of a visit to India by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The United States is keenly interested in resumption of talks between the two countries to ease tensions on Pakistan’s eastern border with India, so it can focus on fighting Taliban militants on its western border with Afghanistan. Reuters. By Rina Chandran. India says Pakistan talks “crucial”. Tue Jul 14, 2009 2:16pm EDT

It is not Delhi’s god given right to rule Kabul. Nor does Bharat extend from Kabul to the Raj Kalhani in the East. That “Akhand Bharat” the dream of the Hindu Mahasabah will never materialize. Bharati religions preach the eternal history of Bharat beyond its borders. If Bharat is a secular country then this transnational dreams of a greater Bharat must be brought back to reality. Every time Adhvani and Modi open their mouths, peace is sent back a decade.

There is much in common between India and Pakistan, but there is much that separates the countries. Mere cultural affinity and anathema to religion cannot wish the differences away. Bharat must recognize that Pakistanis do not see Delhi as the perfect model to emulate on anything. Therefore Delhi must stop wishing for a Pakistan in its own image. There are many routes to success, and Pakistanis admire the Chinese a lot more than they admire Indians.

India and Pakistan will not be able to accommodate each other’sconcernsregarding terrorism as long as they do not tone down their rhetoric and go for bilateral dialogue in a constructive manner. India has better prospects of eliminating terrorism and saving Indian society from drifting towards ultra-nationalism and religious extremism by returning to normal interaction withPakistan, as existed before the Mumbaiterrorist attack. Pakistan will respond positively because this facilitates its desire to contain extremism and militancy inside its own territory. Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi is a political and defence analyst.The Daily Times. Terrorism and India’s expanded agenda—Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi

Neither the bellicose banal billowing of Prime Minister Sing, nor the claptrap of Pranab Mukherjee has in way gained any credibility for Delhi. In fact none of the major players in the world have changed their major policy initiatives in West or South Asia. As far as policy is concerned, nothing has changed–expect for Bharat’s image.

The year 2008 will be remembered by the financial markets as the year when Bharat fell into disrepute and its economic growth tarnished by the major faux pax of the government and the opposition both of which have come across as war mongering bigots.