Well for starters I think that an American let it be any one an army personnel serving or otherwise, and specially a bureaucrat. Are in no position what so ever to comment about what is good and whats bad for Afghanistan and also Pakistan. If they had any idea about what to do and what not to do they wouldnt have been in the mess they are in right now, and directly and indirectly messing up things for the surrounding countries as well.
Now coming to india, well what needs to be done and what has to be done from their side is to come to the table sit down and talk. Nothing can be achieved by pointing fingers and nor can any thing be achieved by trying to alienate Pakistan at every forum. Old grievances cant be forgotten that easily but if one has to solve any thing both india and Pakistan will have to take this one better dose.
to be perfectly honest, and without compromising my basic position of friendship towards Pakistani people, I believe that
this is not the time.
I believe that Pakistan has to sort itself out first, something that only Pakistanis can do, without interference from any outsider, however well-meaning, but after it is done, you will not find a lack of Indians willing to start the process and push it to its finish.
But first the change. We cannot talk to the civilians, because they carry no weight. They are at the beck and call of their masters, the 'deep state'. As a result, knowing their helplessness, their self-expression, their efforts at achieving some self-respect during Indo-Pakistani meetings takes the form of scoring debating points even from those conciliatory gestures that are made from our side at the highest levels, and converting them to imaginary triumphs in their minds, and to cheap insult. The July 2010 meeting of the Foreign Ministers dragged the process back ten years.
You will surely understand that while India will negotiate and talk, India will not do that at the point of a gun. There is no point expecting our foreign ministry officials to go haring off to Islamabad while public opinion in their country is enfuriated at one thing or another; it has to be at times of (relative) peace.
The second thing is the utter pointlessness, the dreariness of discussing things with people who are powerless. Without the consent of the Army, at least, and possibly the Jihadists as well, no lasting result will come out of these discussions. You will not wish some documents to be signed, some photo-opportunities to be taken and some sound-bytes contributed to be the only result of such meetings. You will hope for some genuine and lasting results.
Such results are not possible unless all three, political establishment, the deep state and the non-state that plays a role in the state are all aligned.
Can India bring about this alignment? Is there anything whatsoever that she can do to bring that about? And even if it looks as if some reaction is possible on various issues, can we assume that some frustrated politician doesn't raise fresh issues, no longer relevant though the officials might think it to be?
There is a very strong peace constituency in India, but it is imperative that it should be allowed to stand up. It will be cut down as it sits if we have no assurance that agreements entered into won't last at least for a while. Only you can do that.
