The same script

Those who heard General Pervez Musharraf at the UN Millennium Summit would have had trouble remembering they lived in a world being change...

Those who heard General Pervez Musharraf at the UN Millennium Summit would have had trouble remembering they lived in a world being changed out of all recognition by globalisation, information technology and biotechnology. For the military leader the millennium gathering was no different from the usual annual session of the UN General Assembly, a forum from which Pakistani leaders relentlessly remind the international community about festering tensions over Kashmir.

There was none of the vision thing8217; or his hopes for the future. Almost all of Musharraf8217;s address to the summit wrestled with this single issue. If he had any thoughts about international rules of engagement in the world8217;s troublespots it was only in relation to the Valley. Surely Pakistanis will be disappointed to find their political leaders inhabit a small world so walled in by an old obsession that they can neither look at what is happening beyond nor seize promising new opportunities for the advancement of their people. Pakistanis must also realise that as long as their politicians and military leaders go on making Kashmir the most important national endeavour, the bulk of the country8217;s resources will be spent unproductively, instead of being invested in civilian science and technology, education and welfare.

For Musharraf, on the other hand, raising Kashmir was essential to justify the past and explain the future. Nothing he said at the UN, however, was convincing or new. He repeated the standard formula that Kashmir is at the root of all tension in South Asia. What he fails to understand is that ever since Kargil the scales have dropped from the eyes of the international community. Now Islamabad8217;s aid and assistance to militants and foreign mercenaries operating in the Valley is increasingly seen by the world as the chief cause of tension in Kashmir and in the region and the chief obstacle to finding a bilateral solution. Musharraf said he was willing to talk but India was intransigent. He can expect no comfort here either.

Washington has made it clear more than once that the onus is on Islamabad to create conditions conducive for talks. Finally there was a plea for action by the Security Council which, given the context, is bound to have fallen on deaf ears. If raising Kashmir at the UN brings Pakistan diminishing returns, entreaties to the US to intervene brings no relief either. The Clinton administration responded correctly to Musharraf8217;s call in an interview in The New York Times for 8220;strong8221; international mediation by urging a resumption of the bilateral process. It was when he moved away from Kashmir that Musharraf had something worthwhile to say. No doubt his choice of corruption as a topic was dictated by his personal political interests. But there is wide interest in the subject and the means of curtailing it within countries and across international borders. He would have got a sympathetic hearing in many developing countries when he criticised countries which make things easier for corrupt politicians by providingthem and their cash safe havens.