INDIA AND PAKISTAN

A diplomatic war

JOHN CHERIAN

With the latest round of expulsions of diplomats by India and Pakistan, bilateral relations have hit an all-time low and show no signs of improving in the near future.

SHANKER CHAKRAVARTY

Jaleel Abbas Jilani, the acting High Commissioner of Pakistan in New Delhi.

THE bilateral relations between India and Pakistan have reached their nadir with the latest round of tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats. For the first time since 1971, the Indian and Pakistani missions in Islamabad and New Delhi are functioning with political counsellors at the helm. In 1971, when the two countries were at war, the missions were shut down for a couple of months. This is the first time since the early 1970s that the representation of Pakistani and Indian diplomats in each other's capitals is at such a low level, and that too during peace time.

The latest round of expulsions came after the Delhi police reported that it had caught two activists of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) outside the Pakistan High Commission with money allegedly handed over to them by Jaleel Abbas Jilani, the acting High Commissioner of Pakistan, in the first week of February. In an unprecedented move, the top Pakistani diplomat was named in the first information report (FIR) filed by the Delhi Police. Jilani was given 48 hours to leave the country, along with four other Pakistani diplomats. According to the Indian Foreign Office, Jilani was expelled as his activities "were not in keeping with his diplomatic status''. The External Affairs Ministry also insisted that it acted against Jilani on the basis of "hard evidence''.

As expected, Islamabad retaliated by declaring Sudhir Vyas, the Indian Deputy High Commissioner in Pakistan, persona non grata. Islamabad had warned New Delhi after the latter's allegations against Jilani that there would be "dangerous implications'' if the "smear campaign'' against its diplomats continued. Jilani had told the media in New Delhi that the charges against him would further "vitiate'' the relations between the two countries. He said that the Indian authorities had gone against the spirit of the Geneva Convention by naming him in the FIR. "We feel that it is part of a vicious propaganda campaign that India has launched to malign Pakistan,'' the diplomat said. From the very outset, Jilani vehemently denied the charges against him. He told Frontline, just before leaving for Pakistan, that the charges against him were groundless and that his "innocence would be proved soon''.

Jilani was due to be transferred out last year. However, as a result of the expulsion of Jehangir Qazi, the Pakistan High Commissioner in India, after the Kallu Chak massacre in 2001, he had to stay back. After the military tensions between the two countries de-escalated in late 2002, many had predicted that there would be an exchange of new High Commissioners between the two capitals. It was misplaced optimism. India's refusal to participate in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in Islamabad, did not help matters either. Islamabad too did not make any significant unilateral concessions. India's diplomatic initiatives in Afghanistan and Central Asia were viewed with suspicion in Islamabad. New Delhi was also taking its own time in giving accreditation to Munawar Saeed Bhatty, the new Pakistan Deputy High Commissioner-designate. New Delhi's complaint was that Islamabad acted in a similar manner in the case of T.C.A. Raghavan whom it had chosen as the new Deputy High Commissioner in Islamabad.

That diplomatic ties had plunged to an all-time low was evident from the levels of petty harassment being meted out to diplomatic staff in both the capitals. Despite pressures from the West and the wishes of its neighbours, India has been unrelenting in its attitude towards Islamabad since December 2001, when it recalled its High Commissioner and shut down rail, road and air links with its western neighbour. New Delhi had also ordered the reduction of the Pakistani High Commission staff by half. The Indian Army was put on a war alert. In January, counsellor-level officers from Indian and Pakistani missions were expelled. Islamabad had offered to release Indian fishermen in its custody in January after the acrimonious expulsions. According to Jilani, it was New Delhi's diplomatic gamesmanship that scuttled the move.

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, who was in Delhi recently, is a votary of closer ties between India and Pakistan. Russia, one of India's closest friends, hosted Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in the first week of February. During the visit, the first ever by a Pakistani President to Russia in more than 30 years, the two countries agreed to cooperate in fighting global terrorism. There were hopes that the hard-line Indian position would mellow slightly before the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit, which the leaders of both the countries are scheduled to attend, in the third week of February in Kuala Lumpur.

Influential sections in the Indian government were of the view that the "diplomatic charade" of maintaining full diplomatic links with Islamabad should be put in limbo for the time being. Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani has been one of the prominent advocates of a tougher line on Pakistan. During his recent visit to Singapore and Thailand, he said that Islamabad was in breach of the United Nations resolutions on combating global terrorism. He called on the countries of the region to isolate Pakistan diplomatically as it "supports terrorism".

The Indian Foreign Office has, however, said that there are no proposals to downgrade its diplomatic mission in Islamabad and that it would favourably consider the appointment of a new Deputy High Commissioner.

RAJESH NIRGUDE/AP

Activists of the Bharatiya Janata Party at a demonstration against Jeelani, in Mumbai on February 9.

Most of the Opposition parties in India, including the Congress(I), have supported the recent expulsion of Pakistani diplomats. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, speaking at a global conference on terrorism organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party's youth wing in Delhi in the second week of February, said that Islamabad was fostering terrorism in the region through the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). He specifically mentioned Nepal and Bangladesh as the countries from which anti-India activities were being carried out. Brajesh Mishra, the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, told a Western audience at the Munich Security Conference in early February that Pakistan may be hiding its nuclear assets in the Chagai Hills. He also said that "religious extremist forces'' had been introduced into Pakistani politics under the presidency of Pervez Musharraf.

PAKISTAN diplomats have for some time been saying that the chances of an entente between New Delhi and Islamabad are remote. According to them, the BJP-led government's stance hardened after the party's victory in the Gujarat Assembly elections, during which Pakistan and Musharraf were the targets of its campaign. They feel that the dialogue process with India would be resumed only after the next round of general elections are over. At the same time, they made it clear that Pakistan would not bend over backwards to please India. They were of the view that the Agra summit presented a golden opportunity for both the countries to end their diplomatic and political impasse after decades of hostility.

Meanwhile, the Central government has used the recent diplomatic imbroglio with Pakistan to take tougher action against the APHC. According to the Delhi Police, the money allegedly handed over by Jilani was meant for Abdul Ghani Bhat, the APHC leader. Bhat and the Hurriyat leadership have denied the allegations that their group was getting funds from Islamabad. The Pakistani diplomatic mission in New Delhi has never hidden its proximity to the Hurriyat leadership. It is always given prominence at the receptions held at the High Commission.

Jilani had said in New Delhi that despite his government's political support for the Hurriyat, there was no question of funding the organisation, especially through the High Commission. It is also no secret that Islamabad and Washington wanted New Delhi to start serious negotiations with the APHC leadership for a peaceful settlement of the Kashmir problem.

New Delhi has instead preferred to sidetrack the APHC. Abdul Ghani Bhat, in a statement after the expulsion of Jilani and the release of Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Jeelani on parole, accused the BJP government of adopting a "carrot and stick'' policy towards the APHC. He also reiterated that a "meaningful dialogue'' to solve the Kashmir issue was only possible with the involvement of Pakistan.

Following the recent developments, the APHC office in Delhi was closed down. The proprietor of the house in which the APHC was running the "Kashmir Awareness Bureau'' reportedly came under pressure from the authorities to stop renting out her premises to the organisation. Demonstrations were held outside her house by the activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal.

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