Waving a frail stick

For a long time it seemed that nothing would alter the instinct of American politicians to equate India and Pakistan. No matter where the...

For a long time it seemed that nothing would alter the instinct of American politicians to equate India and Pakistan. No matter where the two countries stand on the scale of democratic performance and civilised behaviour, no matter how divergent their records as members of the international community, for many US Congress-men who may have difficulty locating New Delhi and Islamabad on a map it is tweedledee and tweedledum.

Such evenhandedness has been achieved only because of complete ignorance of the facts or a refusal to accept them. Now there is a hint on the sanctions front of an effort 8212; and a weak one at that 8212; to get to grips with the reality on the subcontinent. It has dawned on the US Congress that economic sanctions are a blunt instrument, do not achieve their objectives and do serious harm to US economic interests. A process of correction has begun with the passage in the Senate of a bill waiving sanctions imposed on India and Pakistan in the aftermath of their nuclear tests.

The amendmentprovides for a sanctions waiver of five years starting next year. One of the conditions is that neither should 8220;initiate or support activities that jeopardise peace and security in Jammu and Kashmir8221;. As seen from India, this clause could only be applicable to Pakistan which has historically been the instigator of insurgency and cross-border incursions.

It is logical to suppose that the sanctions threat will be used whenever Pakistan stirs up trouble in Kashmir. But no one should bet on a US government necessarily taking an identical view every time. In the past, extenuating circumstances have always been found for avoiding harsh treatment of Pakistan. Under one rubric or another, as a frontline ally in the Cold War, a moderate Islamic state and a strategic friend later on, it has been absolved of accountability for building nuclear weapons clandestinely and for breeding armies of fundamentalists and exporting terrorism.

As a failing state Pakistan makes even stronger claims on American goodwill. Willany of that change with Kargil? This is one time there can be no illusions about what is going on. Even the most geographically-challenged politician must know there has been armed aggression, must recognise the Pakistani army8217;s barbarism and savagery, must see through all the deceit and chicanery and wonder about what sort of 8220;strategic relationship8221; the US can expect to have with a country as reckless as this.

If nothing else, US Congressmen must surely see how frail is that little no-waiver-of-sanctions stick they are waving. When sanctions already in place have done so little to improve the behaviour of Pakistan8217;s government at home and abroad, what good can this new stick do other than to frighten American businessmen and the International Monetary Fund? It is time US politicians took a really hard look at what needs to be done to make Pakistan a better place for its own citizens, its neighbours and the world. It is easy to reach into an old bag of tricks and imagine the US is doing something. But itshould not delude itself that it is being effective.