They can keep talking..

Raju Korti

It is appalling how the country's prime minister routinely lends himself to public ridicule each time he tries to open his tongue-tied mouth. It is therefore only natural that the nation speculates what to expect -- if any -- when he confabulates with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif during the New York summit scheduled for coming September.

One cannot but lose sight of the sheer concurrence when you realize that apprehensions and assumptions are equally rife on the other side. Both Sharif and Singh are beset with domestic problems peculiar to their country, most of them of their own making. There is a growing sense of trepidation that the bilateral meet will end up as inconclusive as it has during the long history of previous ones because there is no convergence on key issues including Kashmir.

Kick-starting talks!

There is this rhetorical grandstanding on either side each time a summit is planned. Even as the run up to talks is muddied with trouble from across the LoC, Islamabad keeps trumpeting that the perpetrators are not state players while Delhi dithers with diplomatic gibberish. Yet, the charade called peace talks goes on. It doesn't fool anyone anymore.

The gunning down of five Indian soldiers is yet another attempt at subverting talks that will anyways not fructify. If the ministry of external affairs is to be taken on its face value, "the prime minister has things on his mind about Pakistan and a long-term view to deal with it."  There is a supreme contradiction in this. The statement begs two elementary questions: Given his predilection, does the PM have any mind on the issue and if so, what are those long-term measures that he wants people to believe. I am afraid, you can't read more into it than some steam-letting. The country's leadership has long back run out of ideas on how to deal with the hydra-headed monster.

Someone with an extreme sense of optimism in the MEA feels that Sharif will be able to wrest the reins from the Army and bring a semblance of sanity and respect to the negotiating table. It can be only a diplomat's dream interpretation to say that if the killing of the soldiers is a Pakistan army operation then it’s not only a message to New Delhi but also to Islamabad to give up the pretense on holding peace talks.

Given the way he was ousted in the pre-Kargil machinations, Sharif will have to constantly alert to the Taliban sword hanging over his head although a section of the extremists have been a little more amenable for his comfort. The only soothing factor for the thrice PM is he is a Punjabi and the Army has a sizeable number of Punjabis in its fold. Former Army chief Pervez Musharraf knew this well and played his gambit by cleverly drawing a wedge between him (Sharif) and the Army through a bloodless coup.

Singh, on the other hand, has displayed the kind debility that has now come to be acknowledged as the defining characteristic of the Indian standpoint. Political puppetry is not so amusing when you know that you are dealing with an insidious Pakistan, its inherent instability and unpredictable actors. So far, Singh has given no signals that he has any concrete idea on how he is going to stand up to Pakistan's bullying. Why indulge in an exercise whose results have always been abject failures? Take it. The upcoming meet, even if it happens with all the reprisals along the LoC, will have nothing to show up except some sabre rattling and righteous noises. The country needs a prime minister and a defence minister whose body language must send clear signals that the country is ready to call Pakistan's bluff. This is, however, only a pipedream, knowing how the Indian establishment has been wary of taking on Pakistan at their own game. The pitch is far too queered with the two countries, one of whom apart from usual needling, keeps reminding us that its one hand is always on the nuclear button.

Pakistan has made a virtue of its rogue state standing. It knows it has nothing to lose with its economy too in doldrums as against the Indians who cannot run the risk of being marauded by a neighbor with a "Hum to doobenge sanam lekin tumko bhi le doobenge" philosophy.

So much as we keep railing about a weak-kneed leadership, it makes some sense to engage Pakistan in talks and hope that while the pretense continues, it takes the singular credit of destroying all by itself one day.