Enough is enough, India must take Pak to task

NEIGHBOUR TROUBLE: What are the various options India has to deal with Pakistan. Weekend Edition panel discusses.

            

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Just how much is too much and for how long can India trust Pakistan? With both global and Indian pressure as well as evidence mounting up against Pakistan, is the country doing enough to curb terror? There have been arrests of some of the key suspects alright but is it enough?

CNN-IBN debated the various options India has to deal with Pakistan in Weekend Edition with Rajdeep Sardesai.

Following are the options that India may want to consider:

Diplomatic option: Mount global pressure and isolate Pakistan in every international forum where its possible. Put on hold the peace process if Pakistan does not respond adequately to India's demands for verifiable action against those behind the attack on Mumbai

Military option: Treat Pak as 'unfriendly state' and take military steps to address its hostility and erode its terror infrastructure Prepare for long-term covert operations to decapitate Pakistan's terror network from the Indian, Afghan and Iranian ends

Economic option: Squeeze Pakistan's funds by making IMF bailout conditional on it taking visible action against terror groups.

Cultural option: Cut off all sporting and cultural ties, at least for now.

To discuss the feasibility of these options was a panel comprising senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid; Former Information Minister of Pakistan, Mushahid Hussain and former diplomat, K C Singh.

These options become pertinent concerns especially in the light of the fact that the the father of Mohammad Ajmal Kasab – the only terrorist captured alive in the Mumbai attacks - has also admitted to the terrorist being his son. This in addition to the other evidence being piled up against Pakistan

But Mushahid Hussain jumped to Pakistan’s defence with a fiery argument. He said Pakistan was a victim of terrorism itself and too pivotal in the war against terror. “If one Pakistani was involved – like the Saudis or the Egyptians were involved in 9/11 – it doesn’t make the government or the state complicit to the crime,” he argued.

However, despite being repeatedly asked if Kasab was a Pakistani, Hussain said “it was possible” but insisting he was a non-state actor.

But where do these non-state actors come from? Surely they do not come on their own. Salman Khurshid was considerate in the beginning of his argument but argued if Pakistan cannot do something about terrorists operating out of their land, it should let India do something about it.

“They must tell us what they intend to do. This has to be more than joint investigation. Let them tell us how long they would take,” he said, eliciting an angry response from Hussain who said Pakistan was willing to offer all cooperation.

The diplomatic option

While Hussain insisted Pakistan was “willing to go the extra mile”, K C Singh said Pakistani reaction has been proof enough of their unwillingness. “India has never said that Pakistani government is involved. It has said these people are Pakistanis. At least that shouldn’t be questioned. People are getting killed here!” he said.

Singh wondered what more evidence would Pakistan want when international media has nailed them, the UN has banned the outfit (Jamaat-ud-Dawa, supposedly a front of Lashkar-e-Toiba) and Kasab’s father has confessed. “The evidence is in public domain,” he said.

Hussain argued India was shying away from talking about the evidence in public and that Pakistan too had given its list of evidences to India. But his argument cut little ice with the panelists who agreed that India gave Pak evidence after evidence after every attack – be it 1993, 7/11 or 26/11.

Another pertinent question is on the stability of Pakistan as a state. Who is in control of Pakistan –the government, the army or the ISI? Hussain said the government and the army in Pakistan were in harmony and there was no unrest.

Khurshid, while appreciating that Pak too has been a victim of terror, indicated it was Pakistan that was to blame for being the fountainhead of terror. “Today there’s enough on table. They haven’t done enough and should give out a clear plan of action,” he said, adding India would do all it can to find a solution in case Pakistan cannot.

Hafeez Saeed is giving interviews to Pak TV channels when he is purportedly under house arrest, Maulana Masood Azhar is said to be arrested but is never tried – just what should make India trust Pak? Should India and Pakistan really join hands and interrogate suspects together?

Hussain strongly vouched for the idea but Khurshid did not. He argued Pakistan’s own cases were pending – they had to call the Scotland Yard to investigate Benazir’s assassination and there was no progress on Marriott bombing front as well.

But Hussain dismissed the argument. “Let’s not get into Pakistan bashing as is the favourite thing with India. Let’s not have this trial by allegation,” he said.

The military option

General Shankar Roychoudhary, former chief of staff of Indian armed forces joined the debate to discuss if India should consider military option against Pakistan. He argued in favour of using military option. “We have been grievously wounded in Mumbai and before that there have been 25 blasts since 1993 for which we have extracted no punishment for perpetrators. So if you ask me, yes, going to war is the only option against Pakistan. But we can’t call it a military option. We’ll have to find another name for it,” he said.