India to watch LoC before opening any window to Pak

Pakistan watchers say New Delhi intends to watch the situation at least till May 15 before taking any decision to partially roll back the diplomatic measures taken against Pakistan since the December 13 attack on Parliament.

This time India is not waiting for Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf to come up with another speech on the lines of his January 12 or May 27, 2002 addresses to the nation but simply deliver on the ground in Kashmir.

Unlike in the past year, India now has a credible verification mechanism that can make the situation across the LoC visible to a great degree. Since the launch of the Technical Experimental Satellite (TES) last October, New Delhi can discern Islamabad’s moves against terrorist camps in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) in real time.

Imagery taken by TES, which has a resolution of one metre, will be one of the yardsticks for New Delhi to judge Pakistan.

While New Delhi is keen that US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who is to visit the subcontinent next week, ensures that Islamabad lives up to its commitment this time, it is aware of the USA’s limitations, given the regrouping of Taliban and Al Qaida in Afghanistan.

After Pakistan gave its commitment to permanently end infiltration and dismantle the terrorist infrastructure to Armitage on June 6, 2002, Musharraf apparently tried to get the Kashmir jehadi groups to declare a ceasefire but was not successful.

New Delhi will be be waiting for Islamabad’s response to Armitage’s proposals on ending terrorism. The Indian leadership has taken note of the increase in US aid to Pakistan as well as the latter’s readiness to become a part of the ‘‘stablisation force’’in Iraq.

India does not buy the theory of rogue elements within the Pakistani ISI or the army, who are often said to be supporting terrorism in Kashmir on the sly. The assessment here is that Musharraf is firmly in control of the army and has the clout to end the violence.