"President Obama's comment
that the U.S. should help resolve the Kashmir dispute rattled India, and now it
seems that the U.S. Administration is dragging its feet. As
it continues to ignore the worst repression ever unleashed by India in that occupied
land, the Obama Administration won't be able to escape blame for being biased."
Former CIA analyst and Obama AfPak Advisor Bruce Riedel: When he speaks, Indians and Pakistanis take notice. His comments that the White House won't 'meddle' in Kashmir was a great dissapointment for Pakistan, hoping for U.S. help in disldging India from the disputed territory.
President Obama's comment
that the U.S. should help resolve the Kashmir dispute rattled India, and now it
seems that the U.S. Administration is dragging its feet. The issue of Kashmir remains
the core issue in relations between Pakistan and India. Bruce Riedel [former CIA
analyst at the Brookings Institution], who chaired the White House review that
formulated Obama's Af-Pak strategy, is quoted by a news agency on Sunday as
saying that the Obama Administration, "does not intend to meddle in
Kashmir." [President Obama appointed Bruce Riedel chairman of a
White House review to overhaul U.S. policy on Afghanistan and Pakistan in
April, 2008.]
[India and Pakistan have
fought four wars over what was once the "princely state of Jammu
and Kashmir," and which, from 1846-1947, was ruled by a British Satrap
called a Maharaja. When
India and Pakistan became states, Jammu Kashmir became disputed territory
between the two. While Jammu Kashmir is majority Muslim, it wanted to maintain
its independence, which led to the first Indi-Pak war. Eventually, Maharajah Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession
"acceding to the dominion" of India. Pakistan rejects the agreement because
of the area's majority Muslim population. Other countries that came into being as
a result of the Partition
of India were Burma, Napal, Bhutan, and the
Maldives.]
In addition, Riedel insisted it
was in the interest of the United States to see a resumption of dialogue and an
easing of tensions between India and Pakistan. The Pakistan-India talks produced
some significant results between 2006 and 2008.
But one must ask Mr. Riedel how
he thinks this might come about, when India neither responds positively to the unilateral
confidence-building measures of Pakistan nor accepted any sort of time frame for a resolution to the core
dispute: Kashmir. When New Delhi is reluctant to furnish the required intelligence,
there's no point in telling Islamabad to take the "first step" in
bringing justice to the masterminds of the Mumbai attack.
It has become clear that the
Congress leadership [India's ruling party] has blown the issue of the Mumbai
attacks out of proportion just to improve its electoral chances. Unfortunately,
following the release of [accused terrorist mastermind] Hafiz Saeed. Indian
Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna's intense finger-pointing at Pakistan shows
there's been no change in New Delhi's approach.
[Hafiz
Saeed (photo, left) is leader of the Jama'at-ud-Da'wah,
a party banned as a terrorist grop by the U.S. and accused of being a front for
pro-Pakistan Lashkar-e-Taiba
of Kashmir, which is accused by the U.S. and Pakistan of perpetrating the 2008
Mumbai terrorist attack. News that Pakistan's high court ruled there was a lack
of evidence to convict Hafiz Saeed for the Mumbai terrorist attack shocked
Indians. The decision says in part, "The material provided to the court
‘in chamber’ … was mostly based on reports by intelligence agencies (Pakistan's
ISI)” that lack credibility. The court also cited glaring procedural errors in
the Pakistan government’s conduct of the case].
And why did Bruce Riedel feel
the need to allay apprehensions in "some quarters" of India that Special
Envoy Richard Holbrooke's mandate might also include Kashmir? [Obama said
during the 2008 campaign that a solution to Kashmir is essential for regional
peace].This is a clear signal that
Washington won't do anything to irk New Delhi. But if it continues to ignore the
worst repression ever unleashed by India in that occupied land, the Obama
Administration won't be able to escape blame for being biased.
