Visit Indian Travel Sites
Goa,
Kerala,
Tamil Nadu,
Andhra Pradesh,
Delhi,
Rajasthan,
Uttar Pradesh,
Himachal Pradesh,
Assam,
Sikkim,
Madhya Pradesh,
Jammu & Kashmir
Karnataka
|
India-Pakistan talks can never succeed, says former NSA Brajesh Mishra | Stating that India-Pakistan talks could never succeed
as long as the armed forces were the rulers in Pakistan, the former National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra on Wednesday said that there was a grave danger to the
national security because of unmitigated hostility of Pak and China. Speaking
at the two-day ORF-Heritage Foundation Dialogue on "Countering Terrorism in South
Asia", the former NSA Brajesh Mishra referred to the recent talks between the
Indian-Pakistan Foreign Ministers and said: "This talk has also failed. And it
would continue to fail, as in the past, as we have not yet grasped the reality
that Pakistan army will never allow peaceful relations with India." "Pakistan
Army's hostility towards India is not because of Bangladesh (factor), Kashmir
or Siachen. Their very existence depends upon hostility towards India. Unless
we grasp that, we would never able to deal with Pakistan," said Mishra. He remarked
that despite the Naga insurgency problem, also supported from outside, after the
Independence and three decades of sponsored terrorism from Pakistan, the Indian
governments paid very little attention to national security and our military strength.
"India has never been able to get Pakistan Army to stop it (terrorism). We must
seriously consider reasons for it", said Mishra while adding: "if it is one country,
you have certain means to act against that country. But we have not done that."
"How long are we going to say that Pakistan is also a victim of terrorism and
therefore we are going to work together, when terrorist activities are directed
against you?," said Mishra. "Pakistan, which has been dependent on the US and
western countries for its survival, have cheated them. And if we think, we can
have friendship and cooperation with Pakistan, as long as the armed forces are
the rulers there, I think, we are living in a fool's paradise," Mishra said. Pointing
out that the Bush Administration had given more than 12 billion dollars assistance
and the present administration is giving five to six billion dollars to Pakistan
to fight war on terror, Mishra asked the Americans after all what had they got
in return for its assistance in nine years. He said the Agra Summit between Atal
Bihari Vajpayee and Pervez Musharraf failed because the Pakistani President wanted
primacy to Kashmir talks and avoiding terrorism from across the border in the
joint statement. Cautioning that terrorism is going to increase in the coming
years because of "unmitigated hostility of Pakistan and China towards India",
Mishra requested the Indian policy makers to give equal importance to defence
capability as to economic growth. Mishra drew everyone's attention to the development
that for the first time, China has now come out openly on Pakistan's position
on Kashmir as showed by instances like issuance of visa on separate papers, various
projects on Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and the nuclear assistance to Pakistan.
And, the situation in Afghanistan is also worsening. "If Taliban succeeds in going
back to Kabul, as happened in 96, we are going to have a tremendous problem of
fundamentalism and extremism in South Asia, Central Asia and other parts of the
world," Mishra warned and said: "In such a situation, terrorism is going to increase
as the situation in Afghanistan returns to what was in mid 90s. Then, what is
the answer?" He said India having nine borders with people who are inciting and
abetting terrorism, the government is going to have a tough task to secure its
borders. "We can no longer ignore the grave danger to the national security and
territorial integrity, including Kashmir," Mishra warned. |
|
|
|
|
|