Learn from Bush, don’t beat about

Having earlier that day discovered that our favourite neighbour had tested yet another missile with the capability of carrying a nuclear warhead I found myself astonished that we thought of the test as a mere ‘‘antic’’. When I listened carefully to why Rao could speak of a missile test with such seeming disdain I discovered that in the view of the Ministry of External Affairs the test was not to be taken seriously because it was being done to help Pakistan’s dictator improve his image ahead of his sham general election and because Pakistan had made its missile with technology taken from North Korea and China.

It happens that exactly because of this Pakistan’s missile technology is better than our own so we should be taking their tests even more seriously. But, it was not just the dismissive tone of Rao’s response that I found less than impressive, it was also the embarrassment of realising (as a fellow Indian) that Rao, or the Ministry of External Affairs, or both seemed to be putting more emphasis on speaking English correctly, enunciating every last syllable ever so slowly, rather than on finding something worthwhile to say.

If we want to make it clear to the world, or at least to America, that Pakistan makes its missiles with technology taken from one of President Bush’s axis of evil states then we need to state this clearly and not garb it in a lot of silly words pronounced in what we think is the Queen’s English.

When it comes to spitting out exactly what we mean there is much we can learn from George W. Bush’s National Security Strategy document, released on September 20. Listen to this” ‘‘America is now threatened less by conquering states than by failing ones..to forestall or prevent hostile acts, the United States will, if necessary, act pre-emptively’’.

Since then Bush has made it clear that because his country sees Saddam Hussain as a threat to its security, it believes it has the right to remove him.

He has also made it absolutely clear that if the United Nations does not believe it is in a position to act against Iraq then the United States will have no option but to take him out, to use the American phrase, on its own.

Ironically, we in India find ourselves in almost exactly the same position vis-a-vis Pakistan as America does with Iraq. We deal with a failing, if not already failed, state ruled by a military dictator with weapons of mass destruction. In Pakistan’s case we know for sure that they have a nuclear bomb and the capacity to deliver it which is more than we know for sure about Iraq and if the world is not taking the Pakistani threat more seriously it could be because India still speaks a diplomatic language that belongs to earlier, gentler times.

Why, for instance, has our Ministry of External Affairs not come up so far with something that resembles a ‘National Security Strategy’ document? Why are we relying on the world understanding what we are trying to say simply because we believe we are a shining, white democracy and Pakistan an evil military dictatorship?

Our only national security strategy at the moment is that we are holding elections in Jammu & Kashmir as freely and fairly as possible with the hope that terrorism will simply melt away afterwards. There is vague talk in Delhi of how after the elections there will be attempts to talk to militant groups, vague talk also of solutions. But without a strategy all of this will remain just talk.

Just as despite Pakistan having dragged us into that ugly war in Kargil, despite it having nurtured, trained and exported terrorists into the Kashmir Valley and Punjab for nearly 20 years, all we have by way of a strategy to deal with the problem is more vague talk. Pakistan, on the other hand, is absolutely clear about what it wants: Kashmir. And, absolutely clear that it will go to any lengths to get it.

General Musharraf has even made it clear that he is prepared to use nuclear weapons if the need arises. Perhaps, because Pakistan speaks more clearly than we do it has succeeded in making the world believe that what is happening in Kashmir is not terrorism but a freedom struggle.

As someone who has been close to the Kashmir story for a very long time it has made my blood boil to read some of the reports on the election that have appeared in the Western press. They have been ignorant, biased and sometimes just stupid but it would be interesting to know what strategy the Ministry of External Affairs had to get foreign correspondents to understand the full story.

Perhaps, Rao could be persuaded to spend more time speaking off camera than on and perhaps she could also be persuaded that it is not her enunciation of English that matters but what she has to say.

Write to tavleensingh@expressindia.com