India and Pakistan: Prospects of War and Peace

This peace initiative was a bold one in the sense that it had been seized by India and not by any Pak-sponsored terrorist outfit as was done in July 2000. This shifted the onus of keeping the peace to the warring groups of militants and their mentors across the border. It has also put General Musharraf, already under severe pressure from within his country to restore democracy and slammed for missile exports by the United states, on the defensive.

For an analysis of the reasons for the failure of the Agra summit, see Jha Kant Nalani , “Southern Asia Internet Forum Dialogue Question XXIII, Part-5 “Life After Agra: What Next?” at www.stimson.org.

In this respect, India acted in accordance with its ancient tradition of exhausting all possible ways of peaceful resolution of conflict. Lord Krishna, for instance, advocated war only after exhausting all possible means of peaceful negotiation of dispute between the Kauravas and the Pandavas. For an elaboration of this point, see Jha Kant Nalini , “Cultural and Philosophical Roots of India's Foreign Policy,” International Studies (New Delhi), vol. 26, no. 1, January-March 1989, pp. 45–67.

For the text of President General Pervez Musharraf's address to his country on 27 May 2002, see Strategic Digest (New Delhi), vol. 32, no. 5, May 2002, pp. 739–41.

For the transcript of the press conference of 28 May 2002 by Shri Jaswant Singh, the then External Affairs Minister, Government of India, see ibid., pp. 741–49.

Cited by Jha Shankar Prem , “Snap out of it,” Hindustan Times (New Delhi), 5 July 2002.

Ibid.

Ibid.

Jha Shankar Prem , “Are We Prepared for War?” Hindustan Times, 18 May 2002.

Ibid. Also see, Aneja Atul , “Full-scale War, Not an Option,” The Hindu (New Delhi), 17 May 2002.

For an overview of the requirements for India's military preparedness to deal with Pakistan sponsored terrorism in Kashmir, see Nalini Kant Jha, “Roads that Lead from Kargil, “Trishul (Wellington), vol. 12, no. 1, Autumn 1999, pp. 1–7; and his, “Defending the Himalayan Frontiers: Lessons from Kargil”, paper presented at a National Seminar organized by the Centre of International Politics, Jawaharlal Nehru University and BSF in New Delhi on April 28–29, 2000.

See, for details, “Nalini Kant Jha, “The US, Pokhran-II and South Asia”, India Quarterly (New Delhi), vol. 55, nos. 1–2, January-June, 1999, pp. 1–18; and his, “US-India Relations after Pokhran-II: Effectiveness of India's Clout”, South Asian Journal of Socio-Political Studies (Kerala), vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 12–21. Also his “India and the United States: Pursuit and Limits of Accommodation”, Strategic Analysis (New Delhi), vol. 27, no. 2, April 1994, pp. 89–107.

For an elaboration of this point, see Rana A. P. , “The Nehruvian Tradition in World Affairs: Its Evolution and Relevance to the Post-Cold War International Relations,” in Jha Kant Nalini , ed., India's Foreign Policy in a Changing World (New Delhi, 2000), pp.41–46.

Mohan Raja C. , “Elements of the Peace Puzzle,” The Hindu, 23 May 2002.

In 1955, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and the Pakistani Governor-General, Ghulam Mohammad, are said to have agreed to a division along the Ceasefire Line with minor adjustments. Between December 1962 and May 1963, Pakistan's then Foreign Minister, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, and Swaran Singh, a senior Indian Cabinet Minister, discussed a plan for partitioning along the Ceasefire Line. In 1972, Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, and Z.A. Bhutto, too, seemed to have arrived at an understanding that converting the LOC into the international border was the only way out of the Kashmir conundrum.

Gupta Shishir , “Upset with Britain and EU, India Charges them with Using Gujarat to Cater to their Domestic Audiences,” India Today (New Delhi), vol. 27, no. 18, 30 April-6 May 2002, pp.42–43.

Mohan Raja C. , “Vajpayee: Third Time Lucky?” The Hindu, 20 June 2002.

Jha Kant Nalini , “Kashmir: Need for a Balanced Peace Initiative”, Journal of Peace Studies (New Delhi), vol. 7, no. 6, November-December 2000, pp. 37–91. Also his “Reviving US-India Friendship in a Changing International Order”, Asian Survey (California, Berkeley), vol. 34, no. 12, 1994, pp. 30–35–46; and N. Krishnan, “Roads that Lead from Kargil”, Asian Age (Calcutta), 22 July 1999.