Having virtually endorsed the first phase of the Jammu & Kashmir election in favour of India, senior US officials, including Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Christina Rocca will now be travelling to New Delhi next week for a first-hand reality check. In fact, the US pointperson for non-proliferation issues, John Wolf, will precede Rocca on his South Asian journey when he arrives here on Monday, to set the ball rolling on a bilateral nuclear dialogue that has been waiting in the wings since the Bush administration took power more than 18 months ago. Still, the day belonged to US Ambassador Robert Blackwill who summoned reporters to tell them that Bush had told General Pervez Musharraf in New York last week that he must keep his commitment and permanently end cross-border infiltration across the Line of Control. Blackwill’s remarkably enthusiastic commendation for the Kashmiri electorate, in fact, has rather surprised New Delhi. The US envoy not only announced that 48 per cent polling had taken place, but also that reports of rigging were exaggerated. ‘‘This is remarkable. We hope it (the trend) continues. If there’s less violence there will be more turnout. I would like to salute the individual voters in Jammu & Kashmir who came out to exercise their democratic rights despite threats from terrorists,’’ Blackwill said. Blackwill’s public remarks are, in fact, being largely echoed across the diplomatic community here. And although some European diplomats would prefer to be somewhat more circumspect and ‘‘wait and see’’ the other three phases before pronouncing judgement, Washington’s enthusiasm is clearly beginning to catch on. One diplomat, who had travelled across the ‘‘most sensitive’’ areas of Kashmir on Monday, including Handwara, and seen how people had come out to vote, acknowledged to The Indian Express: ‘‘It may not have been free but it was certainly fair.’’ The diplomat was pointing to the ‘‘free and fair’’ leitmotif that has been prescribed by the international community for a successful election. He explained that while the Army had indeed asked people to come out of their houses and vote fearlessly, ‘‘They were not telling them who to vote for.’’ Another seasoned diplomat, jokingly added: ‘‘There was certainly far less rigging than in Laloo’s Bihar!’’ Clearly, analysts here said, the Bush administration had taken a political decision to back the election process in Kashmir, a decision that naturally favoured democratic India over the dictatorship in Pakistan. And despite Musharraf’s grip over Washington on the Al-Qaeda front, Colin Powell announced during his recent visit that the elections would be seen as the ‘‘first step’’ in eliciting the ‘‘wishes of the people’’ of Kashmir. The last phrase refers to the ‘‘disputed’’ character of the state, which the US has used as a stick to beat India over the last five decades. Except that the Bush administration turned the same phrase on its head. Indicating that the electoral process in Kashmir would throw up elected representatives, who would in turn rule according to the ‘‘wishes of the people,’’ American officials—as well as Rocca’s advisor Lisa Curtis—fanned out across the Valley, persuading Kashmiris, especially the Hurriyat, not to boycott the polls. Meanwhile, New Delhi had been letting out all the stops as well, pitching the ‘‘democratic nature’’ of the state over a ‘‘dictatorship’’ in Pakistan. Early on, the Foreign Office decided that it would throw open the polls for international observers, but only if they went to Kashmir in their individual capacity. So, the first phase of the polls were witnessed by as many as 14 diplomats, primarily from the US, the UK, Japan and the European Union. Russia did not send any observers because it in any case believes that Kashmir is an integral part of India. Certainly, though, the international community is looking at the Kashmir polls as ‘‘one element’’ in the entire peace process. And even as Prime Minister Vajpayee carries out his own commitment, after the polls, to speak to the elected representatives of the Kashmiri people, the world community would also like New Delhi to simultaneously start a dialogue with Pakistan. Vajpayee, in fact, will be in Copenhagen, Denmark to attend the India-European Union summit on October 8, on the very day the last phase of the elections are held in Jammu & Kashmir. Danish Prime Minister Angus Rasmussen had set the tone in New York last week, when he commiserated with the PM over the death of Mushtaq Lone. Pointing out that the ‘‘nearly violence-free’’ first phase was ‘‘a major step,’’ diploamts are now hoping here that the PM will draw strength from the yes-vote of the international community on Kashmir, and announce new initiatives both within and bilaterally, with Islamabad.
