The Obama administration has finally embraced India’s longtime mantra
that the best way to eliminate terrorists is by crushing Pakistan’s
support of extremist militants. It’s a narrative external affairs
minister SM Krishna and US secretary of state Hillary Clinton readily
agreed on when they met on Monday in New York.
Krishna endorsed comments made by Admiral Mike Mullen about
Pakistan’s perfidy in supporting militants, which means the US and India
are reading from the same sheet of music.
“It is necessary for all those countries which have taken the
determined position to fight terror to act together and fight it across
the board without being selective,” said Krishna. “Secretary Clinton
agreed with us.”
SM Krishna and US secretary of state Hillary Clinton met in New York on Monday. Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
The US is recharting its Pakistan policy and the 45-minute meeting
between Clinton and Krishna came amid US charges that Pakistan’s spy
agency is helping the Haqqani network, which Pakistan denies. Analysts
say Washington is now offering Islamabad a stark choice between
“positive incentives and negative consequences.”
The US is now more likely to turn off the money tap, and carry out
surgical strikes against insurgent dens in Pakistan, with or without
Islamabad’s consent. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has promised
“operational steps” in Pakistan if the Pakistanis do not halt the
Haqqani attacks. That means more drone attacks or US raids into
Pakistan.
Krishna told the “Wall Street Journal” that some US anti-terrorism
aid had been used to bolster traditional defenses against India. “We
have always been cautioning our friends, the United States, that please,
please for heaven’s sake make sure that the aid you are giving to
Pakistan is not directed and misappropriated to be used against India, a
friend of yours,” said Krishna.
Pakistan has not only bled America for money, but withstood pressure
all these years to shut down terrorist sanctuaries. Pakistani support
for the Haqqani network, a clan of 10,000 to 15,000 fighters based in
Pakistan’s tribal areas, has been an open secret for years. It’s only
now that the US is hassled enough to publicly accuse Pakistan of
stunning duplicity in the war on terror.
Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said last
week that the militants responsible for attacks on the US Embassy in
Kabul and on American troops this month was a “veritable arm” of the
Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) directorate of the Pakistan military.
“The Haqqani group is certainly a factor which is woven into terrorism,” said Krishna after meeting Clinton.
For Pakistan, the Haqqanis are proxies to exercise power in
Afghanistan once America leaves. Ultimately, Pakistan wants to bring
together all the Taliban/Islamist groups to form part of the power
structure in Kabul. Several influential American lawmakers including
Republican senator Mark Kirk now want Washington to pass the baton to
India so that Afghanistan does not fall apart the moment US troops
leave. They want India to play an active role in Afghanistan so that the
rugged country doesn’t slip back into becoming a safe haven for
terrorists of the Osama bin Laden kind.
Analysts say that in the months ahead the Obama administration is
likely to encourage New Delhi to pour more financial and political
resources into Afghanistan, building on the investment it already has
made there. In all, Indian reconstruction aid totals $1.2 billion.
Krishna told reporters here the investment was worth the risk despite
the continued conflict.
