First verify, then trust Pakistan, says BJP

NEW DELHI: BJP on Thursday slammed the UPA government���s Pakistan policy saying that it was based on prime minister���s personal belief that Islamabad would act against terror.

In a scathing attack on the prime minister in the Rajya Sabha, BJP leader Arun Shourie pointed out that all verification showed was that Pakistan was behind the terror attacks on India. ``What is the verification we are waiting for? Mr Chidambaram said that they are sponsoring it. The Army chief has recently said that infiltration is continuing. But we have been fed with these homilies about ���trust and verify���, ���channels to be kept open���, etc. Why?������ he asked.

Mr Singh had asserted in Parliament on Wednesday that India would follow a policy of ���trust and verify��� on commitments by Pakistan. But Mr Shourie questioned the sagacity of following such a policy in the face of irrefutable evidence that terror attacks had originated from Pakistan. He further said that the business of trusting Pakistan should not be the criteria for the government. His BJP colleague Ravi Shankar Prasad also made the same point during the discussion in Rajya Sabha. He said that India should not trust and verify but should verify action Pakistan has taken on terrorism and then learn to trust.

But Congress put up a united front during the debate, backing the prime minister to the hilt on his foreign policy initiatives. Congress leader Ashwani Kumar speaking in the debate said war could not be a substitute for diplomacy.

``War is never a substitute for diplomacy. Diplomacy is intended to prevent conflict. That is why the prime minister said yesterday while replying to a debate in Lok Sabha that unless we want war with our neighbours, there is no escape but to engage proactively in constructive dialogue,������ he said. Mr Kumar further backed Mr Singh on Balochistan saying that the prime minister had made it clear that India had nothing to hide on the issue.

However, Mr Shourie during the discussion in Rajya Sabha pointed out the dangers in sharing real time data with Islamabad in the backdrop of the nexus between the Pakistan military and terror groups. ``We should first give them real time actionable information. Will they not alert the persons they are handling? What does this mean? Is it, at all, likely, given the nexus between Army, ISI, Dawa and others that they will give us real time information?,������ asked Mr Shourie. He further pointed to the ``seamless web������ between the Army, ISI and the terror groups.

The senior BJP leader then alerted the House on three things, he said would come true in the coming weeks. First, he said, that the only outlet for Pakistan was to deflect the issue of militancy back at India. Secondly, he said that the US is unlikely to do anything to help India as it was safeguarding its own interests vis a vis Afghanistan. And the third point Mr Shourie made was that the US would push India to mollify Pakistan so that Islamabad could concentrate on its western borders.