Dr. Richard L. Benkin, reports from Delhi about the abrupt
breakoff in talks between Pakistan and India about the jihad against
innocents in Mumbai in November 2008 perpetrated by terrorist group
Lashkar e Taiba will allegations about logistical support from elements
on Pakistan's intelligence service- the ISI. This has thrown into
serious doubt whether any joint talks will be productive. To the
contrary, Pakistan may be in the dock of world opinion about being an
enabler of islamic terrorism in south Asia. What follows is Dr.
Benkin's report.
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(Delhi, February 8) “Pakistan
Shows its True Colours,” screamed angry headlines here this morning
after Pakistani Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi
abruptly and defiantly refused to schedule talks with India about the
2008 terrorist attacks on Mumbai and the countries’ longstanding
dispute over Kashmir. Those attacks left 173 people dead. The
terrorist group, Lashkar e Taiba, has claimed responsibility for the
attacks, which shook this nation of over a billion people.
It
has also long been acknowledged that Lashkar e Taiba has been given
safe haven in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan where they have been
allowed to operate with relative impunity. All but one of the
Mumbai attackers were Pakistani, and it is also suspected that
Pakistani intelligence (ISI) provided them with logistical and other
support on their trip by sea from Karachi, Pakistan, to Mumbai on
India’s west coast. Although Pakistan charged several members of
the terrorist group in the attack, they are seen as cosmetic,
especially in light of Pakistan’s refusal to cooperate with India in
bringing the terrorists to justice. There had been some positive
movement in this crisis with the two nations agreeing to hold talks
this month; but today’s heated rhetoric has heightened tensions again.
Pakistan issued an angry and defiant rebuke to India’s suggestion of talks on the 18th or 25th
of February. In refusing the offer, Queshi vowed that
Pakistan “will never bow to India.” In a strident and rambling
speech, Queshi laid blame for the growing crisis between these two
nuclear powers entirely at India’s feet, re-writing recent history and
claiming that Pakistan is the victim in this drama. He alleged
that it was only Pakistan’s “bold stance” that brought India to the
negotiating table after it, according to Qureshi threatened to cut
relations between the two nuclear powers. He also made
unsubstantiated and outrageous accusations that India orchestrated the
high profile terrorist attacks on Sri Lankan cricketers in Pakistan
last March and is cooperating with the Taliban to de-stabilize
Pakistan.
India
responded through Foreign Minister P. Chidambaram that the refusal is a
provocation that threatens dialogue between the two traditional
rivals. He also referred to Lakshar e Taiba and other terror
groups as “representatives of forces of darkness [that are] implacably
opposed to India.” He also vowed that “India will defeat them”
wherever they are. The media was even more strident, expressing
outrage at Pakistan’s unexpected refusal of dialogue “after India bent
over backwards” despite the Islamic country’s coddling of terrorists
responsible for the loss of Indian life.
Sources
here, both inside and outside of the intelligence community attribute
Pakistan’s defiance in part on a “changed atmosphere… based in part on
Obama’s policies.” The sources have said that the United States is
now seen as “not having the stomach” to opposed Islamic terrorists or
especially the countries that support them. “This,” more than one
said, “is the result of your appeasement.”
At this point, the next steps by both India and Pakistan are unclear.
Posted on 02/08/2010 2:01 AM by Jerry Gordon and Dr. Richard Benkin
