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My Word 
Responding to Musharraf
Does the Indian Government
Have a Roadmap to Peace? � 2
by Rajinder Puri

Pakistan has been a sovereign state over half a century. It is in India�s interest that it should prosper. But will it? It is in deep turmoil. There is resentment in all provinces against Punjab. Punjab is economically much better placed than the rest of Pakistan. But the civilian population of that province is as sick of military rule as the rest of the country. The Punjab military even before Partition drew its recruits preponderantly from a relatively small community known as Janjuas who inhabit the area around Jhelum. This community has a stranglehold on the army which in turn has Pakistan under its jackboot. Departing from its British tradition the Pakistan army has gone into business like China�s PLA. Its senior cadres are enormously wealthy. They have developed a deep vested interest in the status quo. They exploit a permanent crisis with India to perpetuate army rule. The Pakistan army and ISI aid and abet terrorism to ensure continued hostility with India. This policy suits China which openly supports them.

Pakistan nevertheless is floundering. The government sponsored Kalabagh Dam has aroused the fury of NWFP, Baluchistan and Sind. Baluchistan is witnessing its most serious insurgency in decades. When the Indian government advised restraint to the Pakistan army in repressing the Baluch rebellion, President Musharraf said Indian advice was �intriguing�. He said he knew who was arming and aiding the Baluchistan rebellion. People thought he meant India. Musharraf knows India is not logistically situated to help Baluchistan. He probably meant Hamid Karzai�s Afghan government. That in turn is aided by America. The bulk of the Taliban insurgents of Afghanistan aided by China are also located in Baluchistan. Baluchistan therefore, thanks to the strategic Gwadar port being constructed by Chinese engineers, is developing into a battleground between proxies of America and China. The completed Gwadar port would give easy access to China�s Xingjian region for energy supplies from Central Asia. The Baluchistan crisis therefore will probably escalate. Already nervous politicians and commentators in Pakistan are urging an end to military repression. Memories of Bangladesh�s separation are recalled. President Musharraf therefore must act, and act fast. He cannot appease indefinitely the jihadis and the extremists in his army. Ultimately he must choose between India and China. Time is running out for him.

In this situation should India support President Musharraf? The Prime Minister should bluntly ask him if he is prepared to partner India in creating a South Asian community having joint defence including nuclear weapons. If Musharraf agrees, his proposals on a self-administered Kashmir should be taken up. If he demurs, India should simply distance itself and wait for Pakistan to fall apart. Unless it helps create a South Asian Community Pakistan will become a failed state. The jihadis will destroy it.

Meanwhile India must put on hold any settlement with China. It cannot afford to settle with China before the foundation of a South Asian Union is established. Otherwise India will legitimize China�s hegemonic influence in South Asia and forever consign itself to the role of a vassal state. What is crucial for India regarding China is not the border dispute but the termination of China�s hostile interference in South Asian affairs.

This is one roadmap. Does the government have an alternate roadmap? If so, it should publicize it. People have the right to know. Those days are gone when foreign affairs needed to rely on intrigue and conspiracy. The world has entered the information era. People seek transparency. Policy planning will not succeed because of secrecy but because it conforms to the laws of nature. To formulate policy that anticipates history is the essence of statesmanship.    

January 11, 2006

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The Week of January 8, 2006     
Does the Indian Government Have a Roadmap to Peace? by Rajinder Puri 
India's National Debt of Honor to The Indian Army by Dr. Subhash Kapila
Elections in Israel & Palestine : Dynamics for Peace by Sujata Ashwarya Cheema 
     Debate on this article by quoting "Telling It Like It Isn't by Robert Fisk " 
         The Debate Continues – Sujata Ashwarya Cheema Replies 
Presence of Great Soul by Dr. Anil K. Rajvanshi   
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