Indian intransigence

INDIAN Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's observation that composite dialogue with Pakistan is not possible until Islamabad shows "visible results" with regard to the investigation in the Mumbai terror attacks, comes as no surprise. Referring to President Asif Zardari's emphasis on the need for early resumption of talks between the two neighbouring countries, he said Pakistan would have to first convince India about its sincerity and determination in dealing with the menace of extremism, that was threatening regional peace. In a media interaction at the conclusion of an award ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan, he said terrorism was going to be a major issue on the agenda of his meeting with President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in London on April 2.

Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee was seen parroting the same old rhetoric that the epicentre of global terrorism was in territories under administrative control of Pakistan. The Indian leadership might find it easier to deduce a lot from President Obama's recent speech, in which he declared the tribal areas as the most dangerous place in the world. But both Dr Singh and Mr Mukherjee sidestepped the issue of their government dragging its feet in furnishing its response to the information sought by Islamabad about the dossier it had earlier received on the Mumbai attacks. Now that Pakistan has already arrested the suspects and is prepared to try them according to the law of the land, India should provide it the relevant information instead of picking holes in the process of investigation.

Dr Singh's intransigence in ruling out the resumption of the composite dialogue until the result of the probe becomes visible can only be seen as an attempt at mounting pressure on Islamabad to hand over the culprits of the 26/11 tragedy to New Delhi. It bears repeating that Pakistan needs no lectures on showing zero tolerance to terrorism since it has suffered a lot from the growth of this menace after becoming a frontline state in the War On Terror.