#dnaEdit: US-Pak antics

The unprecedented security cover for US President Barack Obama when he is in New Delhi as chief guest at the Republic Day parade is understandable. What is intriguing is the apparent warning, as reported by Indian news agencies, that the Americans have issued to Pakistan stipulating that there should be no terror attack in India during Obama’s visit, and if such an attack is traced back to Pakistan, there would be consequences. Of course, there is no hint as to what the consequences would be. This comes in the wake of last week’s US secretary of state John Kerry’s visit to Islamabad and the announcement of a US$250 million aid package. The Americans know very well that Pakistan is the “epicentre of terrorism” as famously described by then ministry of external affairs spokeswoman Nirupama Rao in 2001. They have banned many a Pakistan-based jihadi organisation. The latest American list includes Hafiz Sayeed’s Jamat-ud-Dawa, which is the front for Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). 

It is frivolous of the American government to demand that there should be no attacks during its President’s sojourn. Rather, the Americans should have taken the stance — and a long time back — that Islamabad should take responsibility of terror attacks being launched from its territory at any time. For many years now, the Pakistan government had argued that it had no control over non-State actors in its territory. It was a dangerous confession, admitting that the Pakistani State does not have total control over its own territory. The Americans had indeed accepted the Pakistan defence and they did not ever hold the government there responsible for the horrendous deeds of the terrorists operating from that side. Washington is now not willing to accept the Pakistan alibi.

What is more interesting is Pakistan’s response to the American advisory. Islamabad had assured Washington that there would be no security lapses, implying there would be no terror incidents during the American President’s stay in New Delhi. By doing so, the Nawaz Sharif government has conceded that it can hold back the terrorists from indulging in mischief. It is also a confession that there is some sort of a link between the jihadi terrorists and the Pakistan establishment. The Indian theory of the “terror tap”, being turned on and off by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of the Pakistan army, is confirmed.

The Indian establishment is certainly pleased with the new American stance. New Delhi had been crying hoarse for decades that Pakistan is the troublemaker and that it is the not-so-invisible hand behind jihadi terrorism in south Asia, including Afghanistan. China, too, had expressed grave concern over the radical Islamic elements in the troubled western province of Xinjiang, and Beijing had many a time pointed a finger at Islamabad. The Americans had been conspicuous in their studied silence and the US  military aid to the country continues uninterrupted. Obama and Kerry, and the Pakistan caucus in the American Congress, will have to reconsider their Pakistan position. The Americans will have to abandon their old mindset that Pakistan was the frontline state against Communism during the Cold War era, and that it is again a frontline state against the al Qaeda and the Taliban. It resulted in the arming of Pakistan. This has not in any way checked the growth of Islamic militant groups there, which are now posing a threat to Pakistan itself. It is not, however, rational to expect the Americans to save Pakistan from itself. Pakistan has to save itself from its own demons.