By Anwar Iqbal
Washington DC
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who arrived in Washington on Sunday as the Obama administration’s first state guest, has questioned Pakistan’s partnership with the United States, saying that Islamabad’s objectives in Afghanistan were not necessarily those of the United States.
Asked who he believed was running Pakistan, the Indian prime minister told CNN: ‘It is not clear if the president (Zardari) is in charge of the army.’
In his interview to CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, the Indian prime minister also raised several other questions about Pakistan, saying that he was worried about the safety of Islamabad’s nuclear weapons and that the country had not done enough to catch those responsible for the Mumbai terror attacks.
Mr Singh meets President Barack Obama on Tuesday for talks that US and Indian officials say would pave the way for India’s recognition as a global power.
Two senior State Department officials told journalists in Washington earlier this week that India and the US intended to further solidify the relationship that led to the conclusion of a landmark nuclear deal during the Bush administration.
The two nations, they said, were now set to unveil a new template for deepening strategic partnership on key global challenges, ranging from counter-terrorism to non-proliferation and climate change.
The officials also indicated that the US-Indian partnership may change the course of history in the 21st century.
But in his interview to CNN, Mr Singh indicated that he was also worried about Pakistan, particularly about America’s relations with a country India regards as a troublesome neighbour.
Questioning America’s wisdom in regarding Pakistan as a key ally in the war against extremists, he said: ‘Pakistan’s objectives in Afghanistan are not necessarily in harmony with American objectives.’
He, however, ended this comment on a note of interrogation, saying ‘Having said that, who am I to judge whether the Pakistan government and the Pakistan army is moving to remove the Afghan Taliban?’
Mr Singh said India was also worried about Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal falling into the wrong hands. ‘We worry about these contingencies. But, we have been assured by the United States, the Americans, that they are in safe hands,’ he said.
‘Pakistan has not done enough with regard to pursuing the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks,’ Mr Singh said, adding New Delhi had sent enough evidence without any response.
Recalling his one-to-one meeting with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in the Egyptian seaside resort of Sharm-el-Sheikh in July this year, Dr Singh said that when he raised the issue with Mr Gilani, the latter promised that his government would take every possible legal step to bring those responsible for the attacks to book.
Yet, he said, almost a year after the attacks, militants like Masood Azhar and Hafiz Saeed, continued to move freely in Pakistan, apparently with the backing of the Pakistani government.
The Indian government, he said, had provided ‘every evidence’ demanded by Pakistan to substantiate the charge that the attack was commandeered from the Pakistani soil, he said.
Mr Singh said that India had also provided seven dossiers, collated by various investigative agencies, and each time, Islamabad responded by saying that the evidence was not enough, faulty or unproven.
‘An active Pakistani (government) would not allow this (free movement of terrorists),’ said Mr Singh, adding that he believed the civilians did not control the army in Pakistan.
(The article first appeared in Dawn)
