Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'When will US come to the rescue of India?' that was published in Newsband

When will US come to the rescue of India?

India and Pakistan had declared ceasefire on Eid day in November 2003. It brought peace to the lives of thousands of people who live in villages on both sides. However, since January 2008 the frequency of ceasefire violations by Pakistan has been going up. There has been fire at the International Border between the two countries. This non-contested line is manned by the Border Security Force on the Indian side and by the Pakistan Rangers on the other.

We understand that stability and peace with Pakistan is very crucial for India. But when actors behind the screen do not want good relations with India because of obvious reasons, it is very difficult to resort to talk diplomacy. Talks will give fruitful results only when Pakistan will have strong and vibrant democracy which cannot be overruled by behind screen actors.

One issue on which the Bharatiya Janata Party and United Progressive Alliance regime both agree has been resolution of Pakistan dispute with peaceful talks. The first problem with Pakistan is that its civilian government is not bold enough to take matter into its hands. The military always has an upper hand over it. Ground reality is that talks are only for the sake of talks and not for producing a solution to Kashmir issue. It is a motion that the two sides have to be going about endlessly. Talks mean absence of large scale hostilities.

There are four centres of power in Pakistan – the civilian government, the army, intelligence, and terrorist outfits. They all pull in the same direction and work in aid of one another – as far as India is concerned. Pakistan’s conviction from the moment of its birth has been that Kashmir by right belongs to Pakistan and that sooner or later Kashmir will fall in Pakistan’s lap. When they say right to self-determination for the people of Kashmir they mean merger with Pakistan. Pakistan will do everything fair or unfair to grab Kashmir. With that kind of an attitude it should be clear to self-respecting people in India that in Pakistan there is no constituency for good relations with India.

India can win this battle over Kashmir on the day when United States of America will stop supporting Pakistan and extend full support to India. Many Indians feel that America will indeed one day come to the rescue of India. Till then we’ll have to tolerate the antics of our neighbour.