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Manmohan Singh has been sharply criticized for
including Baluchistan in the Sharm El-Sheikh statement he signed with
Yousuf Raza Gilani of Pakistan. Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon
too thinks it is a case of ‘‘bad drafting.’’ However, amidst the
geostrategic situation unfolding around Pakistan, this step is bound
to favor India.
The statement omits any mention of Kashmir, but
includes Baluchistan. In Pakistan, Gilani was praised for scoring a
diplomatic point by including Baluchistan, but was criticized by
Kashmiri leaders. There is a new thinking in Islamabad that Pakistan
cannot progress until Kashmir issue is abandoned. From India’s
viewpoint, Manmohan Singh should be lauded for omitting Kashmir, and
should be doubly lauded for opening a way of engaging Pakistan on
Baluchistan issue.
 Why
Manmohan Singh is being criticized? For thousands of years, foreign
invaders – Greeks, Turks, Mughals, Portuguese, French, the British –
plundered our lands, but we Indians never went beyond our borders.
This is because Indians lack a conception of power to engage
militarily. The reluctance in Indian character to engage
internationally goes back to 261 BC, i.e. Kalinga War after which
Ashoka renounced war and began a pacifist movement, creating inward
thinking among Indians, oriented towards spirituality than worldly
affairs.
Not surprisingly then Manmohan Singh’s decision to
talk on Baluchistan has attracted a torrent of criticisms. His critics
fear Pakistan’s baseless allegations of India’s role in Baluchistan.
But, the time has come for India to engage over Baluchistan for
several reasons. First, China has been encircling India with military
presence in Nepal, Burma, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Pakistan. It is
building the Gwadar Port on Baluchistan’s coast, undermining India’s
maritime advantage.
Second, Quetta and surrounding areas are hotbeds of
Taliban militants trained by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
In his book Descent into Chaos, Ahmed Rashid notes: ‘‘The ISI’s
activities emerged in the open when NATO troops deployed in southern
Afghanistan in late 2005 and were faced with a full-blown Taliban
offensive being run out of Quetta.’’ Baluchistan is occupied by
Pakistan Army, more so after the 2006 killing of Baluchi elder Nawab
Akbar Bugti. Barring local scribes, Pakistani journalists cannot
travel across Baluchistan. Pakistan fears about opening up Baluchistan
to international powers.
Third, Baluchistan is emerging as an area of
concern for Pakistan’s neighbors. After the U.S. troops launched
Operation Sword in Afghanistan’s Helmand province in mid-2009, Taliban
are moving into Baluchistan. According to Urdu daily Roznama Jang of
July 4, Gilani noted that ‘‘deployment of additional [U.S.] troops in
Helmand may destabilize Baluchistan.’’ The future of Baluchistan is
set to alter quickly. India cannot remain aloof.
Fourth, Baluchistan is important because Taliban’s
presence there adversely affects India’s reconstruction projects in
Afghanistan. If Taliban win in Afghanistan, the ISI will emerge
victorious and embark on jihad against India. Lastly, Baluchi rebels
are fighting for independence without international community’
support. Baluchi leaders such as Suleiman Khan, heir to the Kalat
state, have welcomed Manmohan Singh’s decision to talk about
Baluchistan.
India must talk about the following: Taliban
operating from Baluchistan are a threat to India; Afghanistan and
Baluchi rebels must be included in talks on Baluchistan as Islamabad
says Baluchis are operating from Afghan soil; international media be
allowed into Baluchistan; India should ask U.S./NATO commanders to
speak loudly against ISI’s training of Taliban in Quetta; the U.S.
should focus its drones on militants in Quetta region. An emerging
India’s interests cannot be secured without securing the region.
Indians lack a conception of power, but this is
altering. India’s women soldiers are today keeping peace in faraway
places like Liberia. As India is emerging as a Great Power, its place
in the international community is strengthening. After taking over as
Foreign Minister, S. M. Krishna noted: ‘‘We are at a moment in history
when the world situation is rapidly changing and India, as a
responsible power, must engage actively with the world.’’ The world
expects India to act as a responsible power internationally.
The Sharm El-Sheikh statement is just that, not a
treaty. It merely notes: ‘‘Pakistan has some information on threats in
Baluchistan and other areas.’’ Indians should stop thinking that their
Cambridge-educated PM signed the statement thoughtlessly. The
inclusion of Baluchistan marks Pakistanis’ intellectual failure to
grasp the changes at their doorstep. For India’s regional role, let’s
celebrate Manmohan Singh’s historic master stroke.
Tufail Ahmad is International
Affairs Consultant with Salute. He is Director of the Urdu-Pashtu
Media Project at the Middle East Media Research Institute (www.memri.org),
Washington DC
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