Frantic calls

Islamabad had another shot on Sunday at casting itself as the sober, statesmanlike party in the Kargil conflict when Prime Minister Nawaz...

Islamabad had another shot on Sunday at casting itself as the sober, statesmanlike party in the Kargil conflict when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif got on the hotline to Atal Behari Vajpayee to propose quot;mutually acceptablequot; approaches to preserve peace and promptly released his message to the international Press.

No one in India will be impressed by this posturing and Sharif certainly knows that. He is playing to an international audience which is sceptical just now about Pakistan8217;s role in Kargil but not so concerned about the justness of the cause India is fighting for. It is more concerned about an escalation of tensions between two new nuclear neighbours. So Sharif knows that is the fear he must play on. Indian policy-makers should make no mistake here. The Western powers, by and large, would like to see this conflict wound down in any way and even if it means a ceasefire which leaves a stretch of Indian territory in the hands of the Pakistani army.

As far as their understanding of Kargil goes, it is acontinuation of a 50-year-old India-Pakistan dispute, rather more dicey now that both have demonstrated their nuclear prowess but essentially another phase of an ongoing row. In their view, although Pakistan is evidently the guilty party and although the stretch of territory involved is of strategic importance to India, the conflict is not significant enough to the West at this stage. Had it been so Washington would have shown some sign by now that it was using its leverage with Islamabad to compel it to vacate its aggression. Against this backdrop, a particular pattern of Pakistani diplomatic responses has taken shape. As long as the intruders remain in place, India must respond militarily as well as prepare to meet intrusions in other sectors of the border as indeed it is doing. As long as its territory is occupied, India insists, rightly, there is nothing to negotiate but the removal of the infiltrators. These necessary responses by India, however, give Islamabad the opportunity to present itself as themore reasonable side.

So Sharif talks of 8220;peaceful negotiations8221; and Sartaj Aziz, Pakistan8217;s foreign minister, complains India is over-reacting and of a 8220;war-like hysteria8221; in India which gets in the way of restoring the Lahore spirit. They count on the possibility that a generally ignorant international audience is liable to take Aziz8217;s reported proposal in New Delhi on setting up a joint working group on the Line of Control LoC as a rational means of resolving a festering dispute. Against this India is made to appear intractable for refusing to discuss the LoC at all. Hence the phone calls from Islamabad and the pretence at taking responsibility for calming the situation. This being the Pakistani calculation, it can be expected that the invitation to Jaswant Singh will be renewed and other diplomatic noises will be made even as propaganda about Indian military intentions increases. These attempts to distort the real picture will have to be vigorously countered. Exposing the duplicity and savagery ofthe other side is part of the effort. India has shown it is resolute about regaining its territory by military means, if necessary. Similar determination should be shown on the diplomatic front.