Here is a hint for Foreign Minister Qureshi, and Prime Minister Gilani. Rent one of these when you talk to the Bharati Foreign Minister on the sideline of the United Nations.
Mr. Quraishi: Get a backbone. Don't kowtow to the vested interests
Pakistan has been talking to Bharat for sixty years. None of the border disputes have been resolved. Bharat makes more. The initial talks were about assets for Pakistan. Delhi used all sorts of excuses to keep the assets and never sent them. Neither the gold, nor the foreign currency reserves were ever sent to Karachi (the first capital of Pakistan). The treasury on August 14th 1947 was empty. The Government of Pakistan did not have the money to pay its employees.
Then the German reparation kicked in.
Bharat has been unable to resolve border disputes with any of her neighbors. It has lost friendships with Nepal, Bhutan, Lanka, China, Myanmar, and Pakistan.
Bharat seems to think that peace talks is some sort of reward for good behaviour. It then finds some little thing somewhere to delay and stall talks. Islamabad Delhi Peace talks on basis of equality.
Bharat wants to talk about Mumbai, and forgets to discuss the shameful LTTE-RAW attack on Lahore. Bharat wants to discuss Seed, but forgets to mention her support for the Mukti Bhani and the BLA. There is a lot of hypocrisy in the Bharati positions. It does not want the UN resolutions implemented saying this is a bilateral dispute. During bilateral discussions, it says that Kashmir is an internal matter. Who can talk with such circular logic.
- Assured failure: Why talk with India?
- Pakistan seeks peace with India as an equal partner, not as a reward for good behaviour
- India Pakistan meet fails as expected. Why talk?
- Islamabad Delhi Peace talks on basis of equality.
- Pakistan should stop showing enthusiasm for resumption of meaningless dialogue with Delhi
Shivaji stabbeded the Mughal ally Afzal Khan while embracing. This is exaclty what Manmohan Singh did while meeting President Zardari. After agreeing to look into Pakistani charges of Bharati terror in Baluchistan, he reneged on the promise. After agreeing to de-link the so called "terror" from a composite dialogue, Mr. Manmohan Singh failed to live up to his word. Mr. Singh's words have no meaning. Deals with Bhrat are not worth the paper they are written on
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.
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.
Why should Pakistan waste time on talks with Bharat, and why should Pakistan ask for talks.
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.
There is no need to kowtow to vested interests. Stand tall
MULTAN, Pakistan — Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi Wednesday played down prospects of Islamabad improving ties with New Delhi when he meets his Indian counterpart in New York this month.
“Frankly speaking, I am not expecting any major breakthrough during the meeting” with India’s Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna, Qureshi told reporters in the central Pakistani city of Multan, his home town.
Qureshi said that he will meet Krishna on the margins of the UN General Assembly session in a bid to improve relations between the nuclear-armed rivals, but that India did not seem enthusiastic about the encounter.
Nevertheless, he added, “I am going with a positive mind for a constructive engagement.” Pakistan FM plays down meeting with Indian counterpart. (AFP) –
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.
Pakistan wants all issues back on the table, including UN resolutions passed in 1948 giving Kashmiris the right to a plebiscite, which had been set aside by former President Pervez Musharraf in an effort to secure a peace deal with India.
“Musharraf went beyond his mandate. How can he set aside the UN?” said Hasan. “He went rather overboard in offering that to India. The Indians should have grabbed it, but they didn’t.” Daily Times
Good relations with Pakistan begin with better treatment of Muslims in Bharat–beginning with the Kashmiris, but not just limited to them. The Gujaratis and the other downtrodden Muslims in Bharat must be treated as equal citizens, and things must move beyond tokenism (Azad, Fakharuddin & Kalam).
Delhi has to tone down its rhetoric on terror. Islamabad and the world knows who is behind the TTP in Swat. If Delhi wants peace with Pakistan, it has to pull back in Afghanistan and Swat. It has to make major territorial concessions in Kashmir and the border areas. Once the border disputes have been resolved, the sky is the limit in cooperation with Pakistan. Sir Creek and Siachin have to solved and resolved quickly. Once Kashmir is resolved in accordance with the UN resolutions and the wishes of the Kashmiri people, the Pakistan government will find to problem in helping Bharat gain trans-national travel through Pakistan. However this has to be on a mutual basis which would allow Pakistani truck to reach Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh. Bharat must live up to the letter and the spirit of the Indus Water treaty and begin treating Pakistanis are friends rather than enemies.
If Bharat wants peace with Pakistan, it has to dismantle the infrastructure of the RSS and the BJP and gag the Islamphobes that it nurtures within its borders. If Bharat wants peace it has to stop sabotaging Pakistan at all international forums, and begin supporting common and Pakistani causes. Jointly fighting for the Basmati patent, and IRRI copyright would help the atmosphere of friendship.
The last time Mr. Singh met with with President Zardari, the meeting did not go well. Mr. Singh was rude and undiplomatic. Like a juvenile toddler in his terrible two’s Mr. Singh was seen as a spoilt toddler jumping up and down complaining after he has lost his favorite teddy. The temper tantrum impressed no one. Perhaps Mr. Singh has gone senile and forgot where he was. The septuagenarian Premier was behaving as if he was showing up at a schoolyard brawl after being told by the headmistress to repeat a certain line. It was seen for what it was worth, “Complaint diplomacy” at its worst.
Mr. Singh has failed in all his efforts to isolate Pakistan. Instead of isolation, the US actually tripled its aid to Pakistan. The entire Bharati establishment was in high gear trying to portray Pakistan as a fountain of terror. The world rallied around Pakistan with arms and money to overcome the TTP. Sonia and gang wanted an embargo on Islamabad, China, Iran, the US and now even Russia is sending arms and equipment to the Pakistan army. The abject failure of diplomacy got Pranab Mukherjee fired. Now, Mr. Singh will be going soon too.
No one is advocating boycotting talks with Delhi. However the talks should be part of a routine without any expectations. Those who refuse to learn from history are condemned to repeating the same mistakes. Pakistan has dealt with multiple Congress Prime Ministers. None have come forward with any genuine desire for peace. All of them want Akhand Bharat. Indira Gandhi told Henry Kissinger that the NWFP belongs to India and Punjab is on the way. This is the mentality of all Indian leaders–even the so called liberal ones.
