June 3rd 2002
By Amit Baruah
The Defence Minister, George Fernandes, came close to giving an assurance to the international community that India would not attack Pakistan as feared when he said today that New Delhi "will not be impulsive'' in dealing with cross-border terrorism.
Mr. Fernandes made the remarks at the closing session of the Asia Security Conference after extensive interaction with the U.S. Deputy Defence Secretary, Paul Wolfowitz.
Right through the three-day conference, Mr. Fernandes has been engaged with Mr. Wolfowitz. They are known to have had at least two meetings — one formal and the other informal. Even this morning at the conference, the extent of Indo-U.S. engagement became clear when Mr. Wolfowitz walked across to where Mr. Fernandes was sitting and whispered something into his ear. Soon afterwards, Mr. Fernandes left the conference hall and went to his room in the Shangri La hotel — which also happens to be the venue of the meeting, organised by the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS).
What transpired between the two is not immediately clear, but senior officials confirmed to this correspondent that the U.S. was actively engaged in pressuring Pakistan to offer some "immediately verifiable'' step that it has stopped aiding cross-border terrorism.
Without saying it, the U.S. is playing mediator. "If the U.S. is successful in pressuring Pakistan, then a cooling of tensions is possible,'' the officials said.
In his speech and while answering questions, Mr. Fernandes said: "I don't see the likelihood of any kind of escalation (with Pakistan) which takes us to the extreme.'' India, he said, had never begun a war with Pakistan and all the four wars had been imposed upon New Delhi. He "cannot visualise'' a situation where any action that India took would get out of hand. He made it clear that India had asked the U.S. to stop the flow of funds to Pakistan till Islamabad put a stop to sponsoring terrorism into India.
Referring to the May 14 Kaluchak killings, Mr. Fernandes said India was "angry and anguished'' at the incident. "The pressure on our Prime Minister to launch an attack on the terrorists is intense. But we held back — only to have Abdul Gani Lone, a voice of moderation in the politics of Kashmir, assassinated by terrorists. India is focussed on terrorism — with determination. We are not threatening the territorial integrity of Pakistan, nor do we have any animus against the people of Pakistan. We have resolved to address the problem of terrorism both tactically and strategically. All we expect of the Musharraf regime is that it desist from supporting terrorism,'' he said.
Mr. Fernandes, who was repeatedly urged by speaker after speaker to ensure that India continued to exercise restraint, said that there was, perhaps, a need to change the semantics of war when we address terrorism.
``India has been grappling with the challenge of terrorism for many years. We recognise that the military is only one of many tools in the quiver of State and society ...short-term interests should not allow countries to make imprudent choices. In this specific case, I believe the global community, led by the U.S., can prevail upon Pakistan to live up to its responsibilities to the global community and its commitment to the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1373 (which enjoins States not to support terrorism, among other things). This is the cooperation we seek from those who advise India to be restrained,'' Mr. Fernandes said.
Surveying the Asian security scene, the Defence Minister said China, Japan, India and Russia had a "crucial role'' to play in fostering regional cooperation in the Asian continent. ``We also view China as a crucial peg of the emerging security and political architecture of Asia. Much of Asia's security future will depend on the way China's leadership shapes its policies regarding many of its neighbouring countries. China has embarked upon a path of rapid modernisation and ambitious economic growth. It is our hope that economic development in China will help it to play a benign role in all Asian matters, including the peaceful settlement of its boundary disputes with some countries in the region,'' he said.
On India's nuclear posture, he said, "India's nuclear weapons' capability is meant only for self-defence and seeks to ensure that India's independence and integrity are not threatened by any misconceived plan of nuclear aggression. India will not get drawn into a nuclear arms race.''
After the conference, Mr. Fernandes held meetings with the Defence Ministers of Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Indonesia. It has been agreed that the "Asia Security Conference'' is to become an annual affair providing a forum to Asian Defence Ministers to meet with their counterparts from Europe and the U.S.. The next meeting will take place in Singapore in May 2003.
