Welcome words

The reassurance from Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that India is “not like the US” and would not stage a US-style raid in Pakistan is welcome. Over the last few days, since the action in Abbottabad, fears in Pakistan of a dangerous precedent being set and further action on the same lines as that staged by the US have been expressed on more than one occasion, and questions raised as to whether Pakistan has the ability to adequately defend itself. Few answers have been offered up by the military — and, in this scenario, the Indian pledge that they would not speed ahead with a similar adventure is reassuring.

This is all the more so given the rather harsh tone we have heard in recent days from New Delhi. With some sense of gloating, hawks in India have pointed out that the dramatic capture of Osama bin Laden proves Pakistan is a terrorist safe haven while lists have surfaced of ‘fugitives’, among them Hafiz Saeed of the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Masood Azhar of the Jaish-e-Mohammad, who are based in Pakistan. This, of course, heightened concerns in the country. In this scenario, the Indian prime minister’s words are reassuring. It is also a good sign that they have come in Kabul, another country where there has been significant talk of Pakistan acting as a centre of terrorism and as such, threatening the world. Perhaps Dr Singh’s words can add some sanity to a situation that has grown more and more hostile for Pakistan.

Of course, the fact is that in the longer term Pakistan’s best guarantee of security lies in developing a relationship of greater trust with India. As he has done in the past, Mr Manmohan Singh has demonstrated friendly intent, while declining to elaborate on India’s strategy against terror. His phrasing that India is not like the US, in fact, suggests some tacit disapproval for the events in Abbottabad. For Pakistan, this is excellent news and should allow it to breathe a sigh of relief as its worst fears, that India would consider emulating the US and go after targets in Pakistan, are at least partially allayed.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 16^th, 2011.