Jundal fallout: Will Pak ties sink more?

India-Pakistan relations appear to be in a state of unhappy equilibrium that are hard to take down much further or, for that matter, push up. The excitement caused lately on account of the arrest of an Indian accomplice of Pakistan’s top anti-India terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Tayyaba may have only episodic value in determining ties between the two countries.

The initial euphoria generated recently on trade ties advancing to a higher level seems to be wilting on the vine with the Pakistani military obliging the civilian authority to return to the well-known earlier stance — no serious movement forward on economy and trade until something happens on the security side to the satisfaction of the Pakistani military. Intimation of this came when Islamabad scuppered the prospect of a liberalised visa regime for businessmen. As matters lay there came the capture via Saudi Arabia of Zabiuddin Ansari, also known as Abu Jundal, an Indian Lashkar acolyte who had sat in the control room in Karachi from where the minute-to-minute 26/11 attack on Mumbai was guided via video and cellphone.
Based on Jundal’s revelations so far, Union home minister P. Chidambaram has for the first time accused “state actors” in Pakistan of being involved with the 26/11 attack on Mumbai. It is just as well this has been placed on record. After that terrible episode, India’s demand of Pakistan was to prosecute those in that country who were responsible for the attack on Mumbai. Now this demand acquires a twist, one that suggests that Pakistan is officially in the dock for making 26/11 happen. Ordinarily, this might have led to a bad straining of bilateral ties. But, given the history of India-Pakistan relations, it will surprise nobody that the foreign secretaries of the two countries are soon to meet in New Delhi. This cannot but be an exercise to give a sense of ties not being retarded even when there is no movement forward. It is to be taken as a given that Pakistan is not going to be helpful in ending jihadist terrorism in India, for the trail of this goes straight to the ISI. If India and Pakistan are not to move forward on security-related matters or trade, it is hard to see where they are headed.