Party draft mum on post-Sept 11 geopolitics

The Congress today accused the BJP-led government of 8216;8216;grave failures8217;8217; in the management of foreign policy, internal se...

The Congress today accused the BJP-led government of 8216;8216;grave failures8217;8217; in the management of foreign policy, internal security and defence.

In its vision document on Security, Defence and Foreign Policy, the party criticised the Centre for 8216;8216;lacking clarity and conviction8217;8217; while dealing with Pakistan, 8216;8216;failure in acquisition and utilisation of advance intelligence8217;8217; from Kathmandu the IC-814 hijacking to Kargil and reducing defence expenditure to an 8216;8216;all-time low8217;8217; of 2.12 per cent of GDP.

The document was released by senior leaders K. Natwar Singh and Salman Khurshid 8212; who have been ministers in the MEA 8212; former foreign secretary J.N. Dixit and party strategist Jairam Ramesh.

8216;8216;The government completely failed in containing and countering terrorism sponsored by Pakistan,8217;8217; the document said. 8216;8216;The claim of the PM that normalisation of relations with Pakistan is his most important achievement is ludicrous,8217;8217; it added.

Though a trifle vague on specifics, the Congress promised to 8216;8216;retain for India freedom of options in conducting its foreign relations in response to India8217;s national interests in a world which is in transition and ferment8217;8217;. The implied criticism was of the Vajpayee government8217;s alleged 8216;8216;pro-American tilt8217;8217;.

Referring to talks between Jaswant Singh and Strobe Talbott after the 1998 Pokharan tests, the document said India had been reduced to a 8216;8216;subordinate relationship8217;8217; with the US and 8216;8216;accepted the mediator role for the US in Indo-Pakistani relations8217;8217;. Astonishingly, the document finds no mention of 9/11 or the intensifying of Indo-US ties after that.

The perception that the Congress8217; foreign policy managers may be in a bit of a time warp was only heightened when the document spoke of dealing with Pakistan as per the 8216;8216;Simla agreement of 1972 and subsequent agreements 8230; initiated by later Congress governments8217;8217;.