People's Democracy

THE talk of war between India and Pakistan has receded after the hectic efforts by the US mediators who have been shuttling between Delhi and Islamabad. The deputy secretary of state, Richard Armitage, came to Delhi last week and conveyed the message that Musharraf has committed to stop the infiltration across the Line of Control. The Vajpayee government welcomed this news and announced that it would reciprocate with steps to de-escalate tensions. In response, the central government announced it would reopen Indian airspace to Pakistani aircraft to third countries. India is also expected to send back some of its diplomatic staff to Pakistan.

Ever since the terrorist attack in Jammu & Kashmir on May 14, the rising tensions between India and Pakistan have been causing international concern. The United States, which is currently engaged in military operations against the Al Qaeda on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, was concerned that a war between India and Pakistan would upset its whole campaign centering on Afghanistan. The US does not see terrorism where its interests are not concerned. It is a testimony to the unprecedented influence of the United States in the sub-continent that both the governments are now dependent on the US for resolving its mutual problems.

What became apparent during the Kargil conflict has now been fully legitimised and brought above board. The United States has become the arbitrator in Indo-Pakistan relations. This is a direct result of the Vajpayee government's policy of becoming a strategic ally of the United States which it has single-mindedly pursued for the last four years. Kashmir is at the heart of the Indo-Pakistan dispute and the BJP-led government's policy has paved the way for US intervention in dealing with the problem.

Donald Rumsfeld, the hawkish US defence secretary, is presently visiting Delhi and then proceeding to Islamabad. Rumsfeld has much to be pleased about during this visit. The United States has now got India fully on its side. His visit comes in the background of the growing military collaboration between the US and India. One of the proposals mooted is for allowing US special forces to operate in Jammu & Kashmir. The United States can be brought in, in the name of its global fight against terrorism, to combat the reported threat of infiltration of the Al-Qaeda elements into the state.

The United States will now exercise relentless pressure to deliver its part on the bargain with Musharraf which is to bring Kashmir onto the negotiating table under US auspices.

With its blinkered vision, the BJP has reversed India's independent foreign policy, refused to address the aspirations of the Kashmiri people regarding the provision of meaningful autonomy and, in the process, helped the extremist fundamentalist forces there. The logic of such an approach has now come home to roost. The Vajpayee government has made the US the de facto mediator.