Click to play videoNew Delhi: When the fires of terrorism were finally doused in Punjab in the early 1990s, it's said that Pakistan passed on some information to India relating to Sikh terrorists. Experts admit that Kashmir is no Punjab but remains in favour of testing the waters.
Brookings Institution President Strobe Talbott says, “I atleast, and I suspect, a lot of Indians think the prime minister did right to test yet again whether this time it will work.”
The Punjab experience possible shows that the two countries can cooperate where their interests coincide and it is this effort – to turn Pakistan into a partner rather than keeping it an adversary, which could elicit co-operation.
Defence analyst Lt General D B S Malik says, “If Pakistan has no stake with us, why should it bother?
But others hope that India's acceptance of Pakistan, as a victim of terrorism, doesn't backfire that a grand diplomatic gesture, doesn't give Pakistan a fig leaf for continued terrorism.
South Asia analyst S D Muni says, “I hope that the effort on the Indian side is to extract binding commitments from Pakistan rather than as a pretext to get things going in a different direction.”
Sections of the Indian security establishment also doubt the mechanism will be effective. They say that no Pakistani president – not even one who doubles up as the army chief – is in a position to challenge the ISI.
The SAARC grouping and the composite dialogue process offer existing platforms for India and Pakistan to co-operate on terror but they haven't delivered.
It's been tough going even with friendly countries like the US. Therefore there is a real question mark on how effectively this new initiative will be implemented.
With inputs from Surya Gangadharan
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