India raises guard as Mush steps down

New Delhi: As an emotional Pervez Musharraf announced his resignation, India chose to refrain from making a direct comment.

“It’s an internal matter of Pakistan. We will deal with whoever is in power,” Minister of state for external affairs Anand Sharma said.

Even though India’s official reaction to his exit has been diplomatic, South Block is gearing up for a rise in terrorism and a more hawkish approach on Kashmir.

It believes a powerful dictator may have been a safer bet for India than a weak civilian government in Pakistan.

Many say that the truth is India is sorry to see the back of the architect of the Kargil war, who almost triggered another India-Pakistan war in 1999.

National Security Advisor M K Narayanan had recently warned that Musharraf’s ouster could lead to resurgence in Jihadi terror.

“We are deeply concerned about this vacuum because it leaves the radical extremist outfits with freedom to do what they like, not merely on Pak-Afghan border but clearly on our side of the border too,” Narayanan had said.

Musharraf, who had refused to accept a reference to cross-border terrorism in 2001’s Agra Summit, had within seven years become India’s best bet against Jihadi terrorism originating from Pakistan.

Under his watch, hawkish elements within the ISI and the army were kept on a tight leash, and the peace process between India and Pakistan had become irreversible.

Moreover, India had made significant progress on the Kashmir issue during Musharraf’s reign. His out-of-the-box ideas were discussed in back channels and in 2007, India was closer to a settlement than it had ever been in the past 60 years.

Many worry that the new politicians will be more conservative. “Chances are that the events taking place in Jammu and Kashmir right now will get politicized in Pakistan. Political parties won’t be able to adopt a hands-off approach,” Sushant Sareen, a journalist with expertise in India-Pakistan affairs, said.

The concern shared by many, perhaps, is borne out of Pakistan’s recent statements demanding UN intervention in the “human rights abuse” going on in Jammu and Kashmir.

Pakistani politicians claim that democracy will be strengthened by Musharraf’s exit, but India is skeptical and anticipates a messy power struggle within the Pakistani establishment.

The best-case scenario seems to be that the peace process will falter along, but with few concrete gains, which too, depends on whether a fragile civilian government is able to overcome a restive army and ISI.

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