Column

Like Siamese twins, they had to be surgically torn apart at birth amid much bloodshed. Since then, the contrast between Pakistan and India belies theories about twins having similar characteristics.

Recent evidence suggests that some Pakistani practices are more people participative than those in some democracies. Following the US raid on Osama bin Laden’s hideout, a special national assembly session was convened to consult all stakeholders and to devise an agreed national response. It was the same after US-led international forces killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. On both occasions, senior Pakistani diplomats were consulted as was the strategic community. Clearly, both the army and the political establishment wanted to build a wide consensus.

For the public, the dissemination of information was regular and reasonably candid. The obvious intention was to keep the nation in the loop, to the extent that such a thing is possible on a matter of high national importance. The dividends are obvious. Pakistan has been able to take on the US and deal with it on terms it has set. Army-led Pakistan found that it pays to keep people in sync.

In contrast we have to fish for information. On February 20, defence minister AK Antony had gone to Arunachal Pradesh for the state’s silver jubilee celebrations. Within a matter of days, the Chinese spokesman reacted objecting to Antony’s visit saying that such actions could complicate the border dispute. Now how could an Indian minister’s visit to an Indian state be objected to by a foreign power? Unless there is something that the rest of the country knows nothing about! Remember the Chinese had also objected to the prime minister’s visit to Arunachal. Now, the question that could legitimately be asked by a citizen of this country is whether we object similarly to the Chinese prime minister or its defence minister visiting a part of China?

Also, why is it that only Chinese soldiers intrude into our territory? There are over 300 or more Chinese incursions every year. But our explanation for that is the undefined nature of the Indo-Chinese border. If that is so, how is it that incursions happen only from the Chinese side? Are they so clumsy as to lose their bearings every time they come near the LAC? Why aren’t our soldiers similarly clumsy? Or is it that our soldiers are scared to death of taking a wrong step? Why is it that the Chinese have never complained of Indian incursions? Is there more to it than the Indian population is aware of?

Talking of dark doings, how is it that articles warning about renewed uprisings in Kashmir start appearing in the Pakistani press the moment the unfortunately worded ‘back channel’ talks start? We in India do not know the context, nor are we aware that our destiny is going to be decided on the basis that a part of Kashmir which we otherwise claim to be ours may no longer be ours.

Then, the question a bewildered citizen could rightfully ask is what about the Parliamentary resolution by which the entire J&K, including parts under the illegal occupation of Pakistan and China, is ours?

The surprises do not end there. There is also the rumour Pakistan has, not for the first time, decided to re-engage separatist elements from Kashmir. Most recently, when Hina Rabbani Khar visited India she thought it fit to start her official engagements by meeting Kashmiri hardliners. Has an Indian minister ever dared a similar rendezvous with separatists from any part of Pakistan at the start of official consultations in Islamabad?

Then there are policy flips farther afield. Suddenly, we have given a go-by to the principled foreign policy and become a follower of the US on the question of putting sanctions on Syria. How is it that we were against intervention in strategically close Maldives when an elected president was overthrown brutally, but support intervention in Syria when the world fails to understand the logic of it? Our desire to please the Americans on the issue of Iran also defies a history of friendship with Iran.

For a country that once prided itself as the high priest of non-alignment, and as the leading light of the third world, it is hard to understand why we bend over backwards so readily these days.

And why is it necessary to keep our people guessing about matters affecting their ultimate destiny? Have we forgotten the terrible tragedy when a handful of people decided arbitrarily to partition the nation?

A former ambassador, the writer was also India's last Consul General in Karachi