PM talks the walk

Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee took a decision of political courage to visit Lahore in 1999. Then came Kargil and the hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane to Kandahar. Yet,he invited General Musharraf to Agra and again tried to make peace. The nation witnessed the terrible attack on Parliament in 2001. The armed forces of the two countries stood fully mobilized. But,to his great credit,Shri Vajpayee was not deterred,as a statesman should not be. In 2004,he went to Islamabad,where a Joint Statement was issued that set out a vision for a cooperative relationship. I must remind the House that opposition parties supported these bold steps. I,for one,share Shri Vajpayees vision,and I have also felt his frustration in dealing with Pakistan,Singh told the Lok Sabha while intervening in a debate on his recent foreign visits.

This is not the first time that Singh has showered praise on Vajpayee. Today he referred to him as a statesman,but even earlier when he faced strong opposition to the first joint statement on the nuclear deal in 2005,Singh sought to convey to his predecessor that he had only completed the task Vajpayee had initiated through the Next Steps in Strategic Partnership.

Making this the political core of his 45-minute intervention after BJP leader Yashwant Sinha accused him of walking into the Pakistan camp, Singh made it clear that there was no other way but to engage with Pakistan and he did so by even referring to the extreme possibility.

There is no other way,unless we want to go to war. And then he borrowed from former US President Ronald Reagan to fix the template of his policy with Pakistan: Let me say that in the affairs of two neighbours we should recall what President Reagan once said trust but verify.

On this count,he did describe the 26/11 dossier handed over by Pakistan as progress but not adequate progress. Yet,the PM said that this was,indeed,the turning point between his meeting with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari at Yekaterinburg in June and Pakistan PM Yousuf Raza Gilani at Sharm El-Sheikh.

He also said his interactions with Gilani suggested that the current regime was conscious about the threat terrorism poses to Pakistan. Pakistan must defeat terrorism before being consumed by it. I believe the current leadership there understands the need for action. I was told by the parliamentarians who accompanied Prime Minister Gilani that there is now a political consensus in Pakistan against terrorism.

Here,Singh made an important point that India had to reach out to Pakistan directly or else New Delhi would have to depend on others. We do not dilute our positions or resolve to defeat terrorism by talking to any country. Other major powers affected by Pakistan based terrorism are also engaging Pakistan. Unless we talk to Pakistan,we will have to rely on third parties to do so. That route,I submit to this august House,has very severe limitations as to is effectiveness,and for the longer term the involvement of foreign powers in South Asia is not something to our liking.

In this context,he gave the example of how US and Iran have been compelled to talk to each other despite 30 years of animosity. He sought to explain that the world is changing in many ways and that India should explore all routes using dialogue and engagement.

At another level,the PM downplayed the entire emphasis on dialogue in the joint statement,making it clear that the composite dialogue will only begin when India wants it to start. However,he pointed out that there was nothing wrong in Foreign Secretaries and Foreign Ministers meeting each other something that was happening even before this joint statement.

For all this explaining and elaboration,Singh also made it clear that these efforts towards improving neighbourly ties cannot be the only answer to deal with the threats India faces. When it comes to matters relating to our national security and defence,we will have to depend on ourselves. Self help is the best help. There is no substitute to strengthening our defence capabilities,our internal security structures and our emergency response mechanisms.

Meanwhile,the one issue that seemed to have not disturbed the PM despite all the criticism it has attracted was the mention of Balochistan in the joint statement. He maintained his old line that when Gilani raised the matter,he told him India was an open book with no intentions to destabilize Pakistan and was prepared to discuss any issue including Balochistan if Islamabad had any doubts. He denied having received any dossier from Gilani on this and strongly refuted

suggestions from Pakistan that Indian consulates in Afghanistan were involved in any such activity.