Ends and means

As he mobilises international pressure on Pakistan to act against the perpetrators of the Mumbai aggression, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has rightly reaffirmed India's commitment to resolving all outstanding disputes with Islamabad, including the Kashmir question, in a violence-free atmosphere. Two important visitors this week, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and US Democratic Senator John Kerry, who is expected to take over the powerful chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee next month in Washington, have both helped reinforce the Indian case against Pakistan. In pointing out that nearly 75 per cent of terror plots in Britain have been traced back to Pakistan, Brown has underlined that it is not just India that wants to see immediate and credible actions against the thriving "non-state actors" next door.
Kerry, for his part, has highlighted the central challenge of dealing with terror groups operating in Pakistan - the enduring patronage from the ISI, which has long instrumentalised these outfits for its jihad strategy in India and Afghanistan. Kerry, who will have a major say in defining the terms of the massive US aid package to Pakistan being currently debated in Washington, has suggested that full civilian control over the ISI could be a key condition. New Delhi, which has said it has no quarrel with the civilian leaders of Pakistan, is warily watching whether they can rein in the state actors like the army and the ISI. From New Delhi's perspective, it is better that the politically sensitive demands for a comprehensive restructuring of Pakistan's civil-military relationship come from the West. It is quite clear that President Asif Ali Zardari will find it easier to accommodate the Western demarches than those from New Delhi.
As he lets the Anglo-Americans define specific anti-terror benchmarks to Zardari, the PM has done well to restate India's firm commitment to revive the peace process and resolve the Kashmir question if Pakistan's civilian government can get its internal act together and dismantle the expansive terror infrastructure on Pakistani soil. Speaking at an election rally in Kashmir on Sunday, the PM underlined the extraordinary progress made on Indo-Pak confidence-building in the contested state under the aegis of the UPA government. In keeping the doors open for peace talks, he is sending an important signal to Zardari that there will be political gains to reap if he does what is right for himself, his people and the region. As India, in cooperation with the Anglo-Americans, constructs a set of risks and rewards for Pakistan after Mumbai, it is now entirely up to Zardari to take the next steps.