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Journalism of Courage
After his meeting with Rehman Malik at the SAARC Interior Ministers Conference,P. Chidambaram has struck the right notes of hard talk and patient engagement with Pakistan. He gave Pakistan some wiggle room by appreciating its intentions to address terror,but added what mattered ultimately were hard results. These outcomes include a sincere and thorough investigation and follow-up of 26/11 leads,dealing with plotters and handlers of the attack,and ensuring that terrorists dont have a free run. While acknowledging the fact that Maliks speech devoted a considerable part to terrorism,9/11 and 26/11,the home minister pointed out that bringing the Mumbai attack to a logical end would benefit both countries,beset by the same problem.
Pakistan,predictably,played hardball about Hafiz Saeed,almost framing it as a hate-speech issue there are all sorts of people making all kinds of speeches8230; in both India and Pakistan. However,when accused of fixating on the Saeed issue,Chidambaram pointed out that it was only accurate to recognise that the process had been interrupted,but that both India and Pakistan were now picking up the threads of dialogue again. He also laid down the mutual parameters for progress it is incumbent upon us to ensure that the instruments and resources at our disposal are put to best possible use in our fight against terrorism. We need to examine whether existing conventions at our disposal have been effective and,if not,we need to understand why.
India must have the wits to engage each of them patiently,along with other international actors invested in Pakistan.
