Pak lowers the heat too but no signs of a thaw

Highly placed sources in the government told The Indian Express that New Delhi was not going to any time soon send back a High Commissioner to Islamabad, or even restore the strength of the Indian mission that was practically halved after the December 13 attack on Parliament.

Still, aware that its gains from ‘‘coercive diplomacy’’ had run its course, the government now seems set to embark on a bloodless course-correction. The new strategy, the sources said, will involve the mobilisation of ‘‘much greater political and diplomatic pressure’’ on the international community to press Pakistan to hold to the promises it made as long ago as June to end cross-border terrorism.

‘‘India discovered Musharraf long before the international community did,’’ the sources said, adding, ‘‘We have no hesitation dealing with him. We can pick up the threads at any time, but first let him give up terrorism. India will not negotiate with terror.’’

New Delhi’s diplomatic hardline is a consequence of the military pressure it has eased on Pakistan, analysts here said, as well as a function of the latitude the international community—consumed with Iraq—is at least for the moment giving the government on resuming talks with Islambad.

Clearly, with the big powers US, Russia, France and Britain applauding the Government’s move to pull back—and with Islamabad responding—New Delhi seems keenly aware about the importance of remaining engaged with the international community over the Pakistan question.

Sources said that a reciprocal withdrawal of troops by Pakistan would not satisfy India. ‘‘We expect cross-border terrorism to end. That can remain the only condition to resume dialogue with Islamabad,’’ they said.

In Islamabad, a Foreign Office statement simply said that the government had ‘‘decided to withdraw its forces from the Pakistan-India border to their peacetime locations’’ and that the pullback would commence shortly. Presidential spokesman Rashid Qureshi however clarified that the withdrawal would not apply to Kashmir.

‘‘Frankly what we need is not the withdrawal of troops, although that is part of de-escalation, but the solution of the core issue, and that means a dialogue on Kashmir,’’ Qureshi said.

Meanwhile, back in New Delhi, a statement by Minister of state for External Affairs Digvijay Singh to a TV channel in the morning, that Prime Minister Vajpayee would ‘‘definitely’’ attend the SAARC summit in Pakistan in January, threw the ministry into minor turmoil.

Singh clarified later that he was only referring to India’s ‘‘principled commitment’’ to the SAARC process, since New Delhi firmly believed that SAARC could not be held hostage to problems in the region.

By the time MEA spokesperson Navtej Sarna briefed reporters in the evening, New Delhi had sorted out its line. Since no dates had been set for the summit, and in fact no formal invitation given to India, the question of Vajpayee going to Pakistan in January did not arise.

Sources said Islamabad was creating ‘‘obstacles’’ towards the summit, such as postponing preparatory meetings to resolve the Saarc preferential trading regime on some pretext or the other.

None other than External Affairs minister Yashwant Sinha had taken this up with his Pakistani counterpart during the meeting of Saarc foreign ministers in New York a month ago.