Joint mechanism on verge of collapse

NEW DELHI: In what could complicate efforts to formalise a joint counter-terror mechanism, Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf on Monday said the proposed project was a test for both countries. Responding to prime minister Manmohan Singh’s statement that it was a test for Islamabad, Musharraf told reporters in New York that it was in fact a “test for both sides”.

Musharraf’s soundbyte is as good as calling India a sponsor of terrorism. The statement is sure to anger the government as well as the sceptics of the deal, who have been alleging a paradigm shift in the approach towards Pakistan.

The statement comes at a time when the prime minister is trying to mobilise political opinion for his diplomatic innovation. Mr Singh has been saying that the deal was aimed at getting Pakistan to abide by the anti-terror promise made in the earlier joint statement. Given this, Musharraf’s attempts to put India on par with Pakistan on the terror question is sure to prompt critics of the Havana deal to up the ante.

On his part, the General said that an institutional arrangement was required for both sides. “We also have some observations about interference in our country.” The Pakistani president said that he has been able to remove some perceptions about the peace deal in North Waziristan.

“Everyone is on board,” agency reports quoting the General said.
As of now, there is no clarity on the joint mechanism. The government leadership has been maintaining that the contours of the mechanism will be worked out only after the foreign secretary-level talks between the two countries.

But the General is not making things easy as he has questioned the prime minister’s sincerity on the peace process in his book In the Line of Fire. In the book that hit the bookstalls on Monday, the General said he was “still waiting for the prime minister’s out-of-the-box solution on Jammu and Kashmir.

“The initial signs of sincerity and flexibility that I sensed in Manmohan Singh seem to be withering away. I think the Indian establishment — the bureaucrats, diplomats and intelligence agencies and perhaps even the military — has gotten the better of him.” He has also some unsolicited advice for the prime minister in his book.

“I feel if a leader is to break away from hackneyed ideas and frozen positions, he has to be bold. He has to dominate the establishment, rather than letting it dictate him. I am still waiting for Manmohan Singh’s ‘out of the box’ solution.

In the meanwhile, I have initiated many new ideas. We await responses or any counter ideas to solve the dispute over Kashmir without which I strongly believe permanent peace in the region will remain elusive”.