Times of India has carried an article by Ashley J Tellis, senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace under the caption ´Roadblocks to peace´, in which the author blames Pakistan for mobilizing militants and terrorists on both sides of its borders in a bid to secure a dominant position in Afghanistan and to blunt India´s rise.
He adds: "While the Afghan Taliban fighting US and NATO forces continue to enjoy Pakistan's support, Islamabad has exchanged its previous policy of supporting anti-Indian insurgencies with that of supporting terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which mounted the deadly assault on Mumbai in 2008". One wonders as to why Times of India is publishing articles that stoke the existing tensions between India and Pakistan when it has in collaboration of Jang - Pakistani media group launched with great fanfare Amn ki Asha to promote peace in the region. The author has only repeated Indian stance that "peace process is stalled due to Pakistan's unwillingness to bring to justice the Lashkar leadership, which has enjoyed the support of the country's powerful intelligence organisation Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)". It has to be noted that when reconciliation efforts in Afghanistan are being made, Indian lobbyists are trying to malign Pakistan with a view to neutralizing the immense goodwill Pakistan has earned by destroying terrorists infrastructure and their strongholds in Swat, Malakand, South Waziristan and Bajaur. In fact India has been unnerved with the successes of Pakistan´s armed forces and secondly that the elements India was supporting and funding are on the run. The author said that many Pakistanis today academics, policy analysts, and even officials concede that fomenting insurgencies within India has been a main component of Pakistan's national strategy. It is unfortunate that a few Pakistani pseudo-intellectuals and so-called analysts have the habit of badmouthing and criticizing Pakistan´s agencies. Ayesha Siddiqa is one of them who wrote a book ´Military Inc.: Inside Pakistan's Military Economy on Industrial". She had in fact reproduced a part of text given in a book ´Pakistan provinces´ published Strategic Foresight Group in 2004, which is perhaps intellectual wing of the RAW. Whereas Indian print and electronic media demonstrates patriotism despite the fact that India has hegemonic designs against its neighbours, some Pakistani media men are devoid of sense of patriotism. Former UN special representative to Afghanistan Kai Eide, in an interview with the BBC on Friday said that with the arrest of high-profile Taliban leaders in Pakistan, secret peace talks with the United Nations have come to a halt. "The first contact was probably last spring; there was a lull in activity due to elections, and it continued to pick up until a certain moment a few weeks ago. Face-to-face talks were held in Dubai and other locations". In fact, India and its lobbyists have been flabbergasted by the change in the US administration´s policy, and they restarted propaganda blitz after Taliban military commander Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was captured last month in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi in Pakistan. The US media had said it was a joint operation with American spies. Other senior Taliban commanders have also reportedly been captured in Pakistan recently, and it was in this backdrop that General David Petraeus last month had hailed "important breakthroughs" and detentions in Pakistan. The problem is that when Pakistan could not apprehend militants´ leaders, it drew flak for not doing enough, and when Pakistan has been able to arrest them, they see a conspiracy to sabotage reconciliation effort. Kai Eide´s disclosure at this point is reflective of devious designs, as the US administration described the arrests of Afghan Taliban leaders in Pakistan as a sign of success. Kai Eide went on to say that such negotiations would have been impossible without the authorisation of the movement's leader, Mullah Omar. But it is a matter of record that spokesman of the Taliban had categorically stated that no talks were being held direct or indirect with the US or Afghan president, and that those who attended meeting in Saudi Arabia were not true representatives of the Taliban. According to Saudi spokesman´s recent statement, the kingdom is not interested in facilitating such talks because of the Taliban´s contact with the Al Qaeda. However, Saudi Arabia has once again been requested to mediate between the government of President Hamid Kazai and Taliban. Pakistan among other neighbors of Afghanistan has been asked to back Afghan peace process. Anyhow, Pakistan deserves much better for having given tremendous sacrifices in men and material during war on terror. Pakistan, indeed, has genuine concerns on other counts, as Afghanistan was the only country that had voted against Pakistan´s membership in United Nations in 1947, and except a brief period of Taliban era, the relations remained strained. Anyhow, with the new policy of Obama administration India´s role has been curtailed, and in fact the die was cast for this change in the London Conference attended by about 70 nations whereby a renewed commitment was made towards helping Afghanistan so that it emerged as a secure, prosperous, and democratic nation. After nine years, America has realized that without Pakistan´s cooperation neither war on terror in Afghanistan is winnable nor can it have an honourable exit. Instead of realizing this eidetic reality earlier, America had relied more on India and Northern Alliance. A change in US policy is now visible from President Karzai´s assurance during his recent visit to Pakistan that India would not be allowed to use Afghanistan´s soil to destabilize Pakistan. He also promised to keep Pakistan on board about any political engagement with the Taliban and sent out positive signals aimed at addressing Pakistan´s strategic concerns. But India is not happy over its failure to have a role in reconciliation process. It is perhaps in this backdrop that India and Russia on Friday agreed to intensify their consultations on Afghanistan and evolve a joint strategy to meet the challenges posed by terrorism in their proximate neighbourhoods. Both sides signed pacts in defence and civil nuclear energy spheres worth over $10 billion. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who held detailed discussions on regional issues with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, shared New Delhi´s concerns about terrorism emanating from Pakistan and Afghanistan. However, there is a redeeming feature that despite concluding agreements worth billions of dollars Prime Minister Vladimir Putin while referring to efforts of Pakistan to fight terror said: "Islamabad had in the recent months initiated action against those groups. India also failed to achieve its objective of demonizing Pakistan, because Russia does not want to put its eggs in one basket – India. Pakistan should also review its policy and should try to mend fences with Russia because there could be some bitterness over Pakistan´s role in pushing Soviet forces from Afghanistan in 1988. Both countries should leave the past behind, as Soviet Russia had also backed India to disintegrate Pakistan. The account has been settled, and now both countries should move forward to ensure peace and prosperity in the region.
He adds: "While the Afghan Taliban fighting US and NATO forces continue to enjoy Pakistan's support, Islamabad has exchanged its previous policy of supporting anti-Indian insurgencies with that of supporting terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which mounted the deadly assault on Mumbai in 2008". One wonders as to why Times of India is publishing articles that stoke the existing tensions between India and Pakistan when it has in collaboration of Jang - Pakistani media group launched with great fanfare Amn ki Asha to promote peace in the region. The author has only repeated Indian stance that "peace process is stalled due to Pakistan's unwillingness to bring to justice the Lashkar leadership, which has enjoyed the support of the country's powerful intelligence organisation Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)". It has to be noted that when reconciliation efforts in Afghanistan are being made, Indian lobbyists are trying to malign Pakistan with a view to neutralizing the immense goodwill Pakistan has earned by destroying terrorists infrastructure and their strongholds in Swat, Malakand, South Waziristan and Bajaur. In fact India has been unnerved with the successes of Pakistan´s armed forces and secondly that the elements India was supporting and funding are on the run. The author said that many Pakistanis today academics, policy analysts, and even officials concede that fomenting insurgencies within India has been a main component of Pakistan's national strategy. It is unfortunate that a few Pakistani pseudo-intellectuals and so-called analysts have the habit of badmouthing and criticizing Pakistan´s agencies. Ayesha Siddiqa is one of them who wrote a book ´Military Inc.: Inside Pakistan's Military Economy on Industrial". She had in fact reproduced a part of text given in a book ´Pakistan provinces´ published Strategic Foresight Group in 2004, which is perhaps intellectual wing of the RAW. Whereas Indian print and electronic media demonstrates patriotism despite the fact that India has hegemonic designs against its neighbours, some Pakistani media men are devoid of sense of patriotism. Former UN special representative to Afghanistan Kai Eide, in an interview with the BBC on Friday said that with the arrest of high-profile Taliban leaders in Pakistan, secret peace talks with the United Nations have come to a halt. "The first contact was probably last spring; there was a lull in activity due to elections, and it continued to pick up until a certain moment a few weeks ago. Face-to-face talks were held in Dubai and other locations". In fact, India and its lobbyists have been flabbergasted by the change in the US administration´s policy, and they restarted propaganda blitz after Taliban military commander Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was captured last month in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi in Pakistan. The US media had said it was a joint operation with American spies. Other senior Taliban commanders have also reportedly been captured in Pakistan recently, and it was in this backdrop that General David Petraeus last month had hailed "important breakthroughs" and detentions in Pakistan. The problem is that when Pakistan could not apprehend militants´ leaders, it drew flak for not doing enough, and when Pakistan has been able to arrest them, they see a conspiracy to sabotage reconciliation effort. Kai Eide´s disclosure at this point is reflective of devious designs, as the US administration described the arrests of Afghan Taliban leaders in Pakistan as a sign of success. Kai Eide went on to say that such negotiations would have been impossible without the authorisation of the movement's leader, Mullah Omar. But it is a matter of record that spokesman of the Taliban had categorically stated that no talks were being held direct or indirect with the US or Afghan president, and that those who attended meeting in Saudi Arabia were not true representatives of the Taliban. According to Saudi spokesman´s recent statement, the kingdom is not interested in facilitating such talks because of the Taliban´s contact with the Al Qaeda. However, Saudi Arabia has once again been requested to mediate between the government of President Hamid Kazai and Taliban. Pakistan among other neighbors of Afghanistan has been asked to back Afghan peace process. Anyhow, Pakistan deserves much better for having given tremendous sacrifices in men and material during war on terror. Pakistan, indeed, has genuine concerns on other counts, as Afghanistan was the only country that had voted against Pakistan´s membership in United Nations in 1947, and except a brief period of Taliban era, the relations remained strained. Anyhow, with the new policy of Obama administration India´s role has been curtailed, and in fact the die was cast for this change in the London Conference attended by about 70 nations whereby a renewed commitment was made towards helping Afghanistan so that it emerged as a secure, prosperous, and democratic nation. After nine years, America has realized that without Pakistan´s cooperation neither war on terror in Afghanistan is winnable nor can it have an honourable exit. Instead of realizing this eidetic reality earlier, America had relied more on India and Northern Alliance. A change in US policy is now visible from President Karzai´s assurance during his recent visit to Pakistan that India would not be allowed to use Afghanistan´s soil to destabilize Pakistan. He also promised to keep Pakistan on board about any political engagement with the Taliban and sent out positive signals aimed at addressing Pakistan´s strategic concerns. But India is not happy over its failure to have a role in reconciliation process. It is perhaps in this backdrop that India and Russia on Friday agreed to intensify their consultations on Afghanistan and evolve a joint strategy to meet the challenges posed by terrorism in their proximate neighbourhoods. Both sides signed pacts in defence and civil nuclear energy spheres worth over $10 billion. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who held detailed discussions on regional issues with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, shared New Delhi´s concerns about terrorism emanating from Pakistan and Afghanistan. However, there is a redeeming feature that despite concluding agreements worth billions of dollars Prime Minister Vladimir Putin while referring to efforts of Pakistan to fight terror said: "Islamabad had in the recent months initiated action against those groups. India also failed to achieve its objective of demonizing Pakistan, because Russia does not want to put its eggs in one basket – India. Pakistan should also review its policy and should try to mend fences with Russia because there could be some bitterness over Pakistan´s role in pushing Soviet forces from Afghanistan in 1988. Both countries should leave the past behind, as Soviet Russia had also backed India to disintegrate Pakistan. The account has been settled, and now both countries should move forward to ensure peace and prosperity in the region.
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