LoC crisis: Time to play hardball?

It is clear that tension on the Line of Control arising from the beheading of an Indian soldier by Pakistani troops earlier this week has been wilfully escalated to a level by Islamabad that could lead to a retardation, if not freezing, of the current dialogue process.

It is hard to put down the feeling that there is an element of design in this. The statement on Friday by Pakistan’s foreign secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani signifying his country’s peaceable intentions and its desire to sustain the dialogue process with India sits ill with Islamabad’s actions on the ground.
The cavalier if not insincere approach is evident from the fact that Pakistan escalated the tension on the Line of Control with its troops opening fire at Indian forces at multiple locations even as Mr Jilani’s comment was being publicised. In 2003, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, in considerable international difficulty at the time following the terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament, gave a commitment that his government would ensure that Pakistani territory would not be used for attacks against India. A ceasefire regime on the Line of Control was also put in place in the wake of this and served as a key confidence-building measure. But everything has gone topsy-turvy in recent years. We not only saw the terrorist strike on Mumbai in November 2008 but also steady escalation of ceasefire violations from the Pakistani side since that year.
The recent developments impart to this worrying trend a certain measure of consolidation. As such, Mr Jilani’s reiteration that his nation is committed to a peaceful resolution of all outstanding issues through a sustained and result-oriented dialogue with India fails to pass even basic tests. That is so much the pity.
The Indian leadership continued to talk to Pakistan and take steps to fabricate peace even after the assault on Mumbai as it did not seek to divert Islamabad’s attention from the urgent task of safeguarding its western border from the Taliban militants. But none of this appears to have dented the militarist mindset in Islamabad, which seems to remain focused on the doctrine of India being the main enemy despite even recent public disavowals to the contrary.
Even as Islamabad, at the formal level, spoke of its desire to maintain constructive engagement with India, it abruptly suspended the cross-LoC trade and passenger bus service, besides stepping up military actions on the de facto border. This is in stark contrast with India’s stance. Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde maintained that in spite of recent provocations New Delhi did not seek to put in cold storage the recently signed liberalised visa regime between the two nations. If the situation is allowed to degenerate, India too can play hardball.