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The world urges India and Pakistan to talk and end their differences. But whom should India talk with?
Key personnel in Pakistan owe loyalty to America or to China. Divided loyalties compound the confusion. Thus President Zardari is blessed by Washington. Army chief General Kayani looks up to Beijing. The ISI is under the army. But the ISI chief, General Pasha, is close to Zardari. That is why Zardari okayed his visit to India, and then retracted under army pressure. That is why General Pasha, in an interview to the German magazine Der Spiegel, confessed that he was ready to go to India but was prevented. "Some people here are simply not ready (for it)," he said. Later, the army declared that he had been misquoted!
That is not all. Pakistan’s National Security Advisor, General Durrani, a Pashtun, is close to Zardari and Washington. He told the media that Mumbai terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab was Pakistani. Hours later, the Pakistan government confirmed this. But at the same time, Prime Minister Gilani sacked Durrani who had spoken without informing him. Durrani had cleared his statement with Zardari. Zardari is not an executive president. He did not keep Gilani informed. Gilani took umbrage. Is there mistrust, then, between Zardari and Gilani too?
General Kayani is considered the top boss. But how powerful is he in Pakistan’s current situation? A mere whisper from Beijing can make him crawl. And the Taliban has consolidated power in all the territory extending from the Afghan border up to 400 kilometres north-west of Lahore. Its writ runs unchallenged. It has consolidated almost all the Pashtun territory that cuts across Pakistan and Afghanistan. If the Taliban severed its links with Al Qaeda and global terrorism, would the West care if it was ruled by a medieval culture?
People in Punjab and Sindh would certainly care. Their lifestyle is incompatible with that of the Taliban. Before General Kayani can subjugate the Taliban, he must think about his army’s 25 per cent Pashtun element.
So, should India talk in a hurry? Or should it raise its guard, wait, and watch?
(Puri can be reached at rajinderpuri2000@yahoo.com)