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Journalism of Courage
Neither the decision by US President Barack Obama and his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to appoint a special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan,nor their choice of veteran American diplomat Richard Holbrooke for the assignment should come as a surprise to India. On the eve of the US presidential elections last November,this newspaper had reported on Obamas firm plans to appoint a high profile special envoy for the subcontinent. Nevertheless,New Delhi should note the speed with which the new administration has acted and the political capital it is investing in the project to bring order to the northwestern parts of the subcontinent.
Announcing the appointment on her very first day in the state department,Clinton emphasised the importance of an integrated strategy that treats the problems in Afghanistan and Pakistan as a single whole,and mobilises Americas friends and allies from around the world to rejuvenate the faltering war on terror. To accomplish what many would consider mission impossible,Obama and Clinton have chosen Holbrooke,whose reputation as a diplomatic Rottweiler is well-established. With the stage now set for a major American diplomatic initiative in the subcontinent,New Delhi surely owes a wink and a nod to Obama and Clinton for not including Kashmir and India in Holbrookes official mandate,despite the clamour for it among the think-tanks in Washington. The UPA government,which has been posturing against third-party intervention in Kashmir and went out of the way to put down the British Foreign Secretary David Miliband,has been saved the political blushes.
