Seeing India/Pakistan through a glass, darkly

[TayTay]

I have had some time to actually read some of the stories put out by the Indian and Pakistani press about the recent visit Sen. Kerry made to that region. It's fascinating to see how the newspapers in the various countries interpret what the Senator said. (Note: I do not have an informed opinion on this. Just pointing out the jigsaw pieces, not claiming to have solved the puzzle.) http://www.daily.pk/local/other-local/8634-seeing-isi-through-the-indian-prism.html">Case in point:

Seeing ISI through the Indian prism

Written by www.daily.pk
Saturday, 20 December 2008

US Senator John Kerry was in New Delhi and then in Islamabad early this week as President-elect Barack Obama's special envoy. So far what we recently had here and in India as American callers, represented the Bush Administration.

Their concern about the rapidly deteriorating security situation in South Asia following the Mumbai terror attacks was understandable, but looking to the future we all believe that President George Bush is a man of yesterday. And so are his policies. The future belongs to Barack Obama and his team, in which Senator Kerry is expected to take an important position and play a leading role.

As he returns to Washington, Senator Kerry has been named chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the slot vacated by Joseph Biden, the Vice President-elect. In the Obama administration it would be mainly Hillary Clinton-John Kerry combine that is likely to call the shots on foreign policy matters and not Joseph Biden, earlier billed as a potential inspirator of the president-elect's worldview in respect of foreign policy.

It is a measure of Senator Kerry's intellectual integrity that he is amenable to modifying and reforming his perspectives and perceptions in deference to logic and reason. Hence the difference in his statements about the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency made in New Delhi before meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and after he had the talks with President Zardari in Islamabad.

"We would like to see an ISI that is reforming and brought completely under civilian control", he told the Indian Express ahead of his talks with Manmohan Singh. That had greatly pleased the Indian media hell-bent as it is on defaming Pakistan's premier intelligence agency.

But after meeting Zardari in Islamabad he told a select media group that 'no evidence had been found to link Mumbai terror attacks to the Pakistan government or the ISI... General Kiyani fully realises what needs to be done in the prevalent situation and so does the Director General of ISI Lieutenant General Shuja Pasha'.

But look at what was written on Dec 17th, http://www.daily.pk/opinions/opinions/8614.html?task=view">same newspaper.

Who grins while Pakistan burns?

Written by www.daily.pk
Thursday, 18 December 2008

In the aftermath of Mumbai attacks, Pakistan has emerged as the new Bogeyman for the people living in the West.

While Delhi has been blaming Pakistan for sponsoring a mass murder, a vicious campaign has been launched by the Western media against Pakistan. Accusations are also made by the US and her allies by condemning Pakistan in the context of the Mumbai attacks. And once again Pakistan is in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

And while this melodrama of Indian and western media continues, a very basic and simple question that a reasonable man would think of has never been answered: Why ISI or Pakistan based militant organisation would be interested in face saving of Indian army by murdering ATS chief Hemant Karkare, who had already exposed links between right wing Hindu groups and the Malegaon and Samjhuta express incidents, and was in middle of the investigation that was set to expose the secret links between the Hindu terrorists and Indian Army?

A sinister game is being played here that is reaffirmed as Delhi's claims were fully endorsed by the United States and Britain. A carefully orchestrated and well formulated strategy is practised to shape the international opinion regarding Pakistan. Ignoble mention of Pakistani nukes, defamatory statements regarding Pakistan army and her premier spy agency ISI and declaration of Pakistan as the biggest threat to the world security are just a few examples of how well the script written in Washington DC is being executed.

Must have been some meeting between the 17th and the 19th.

[karynnj]

1. Interesting

I think there is less difference in the two statements than meets the eye. In India, Kerry's statement did not say that ISI or Pakistan were complicit in the Mumbai attacks. He said that ISI needs to under control - something that is completely consistent with many things he has always said. In Pakistan, he said that there is no evidence that ISI was involved and that they know what they have to do.

The second article shows the paranoia in Pakistan that they are under attack by everyone. They feel threatened. India just had this attack - and it is likely that they feel threatened. It looks to me as though Kerry did functionally the same thing in each country. I think in both places he spoke of the need to deal with the underlying problems - but also acted and spoke in a way that reassured both of them that the US would be fair. (Contrast McCain essentially saying that India could attack Pakistan.) He was calming both sides down - which is a necessary first step towards getting them to work together to get a solution.

Now, the 2 articles may well have had 2 different writers, but it is noteworthy that there is none of the paranoia seen in a sentence like this "Ignoble mention of Pakistani nukes, defamatory statements regarding Pakistan army and her premier spy agency ISI and declaration of Pakistan as the biggest threat to the world security are just a few examples of how well the script written in Washington DC is being executed." If it is the same writer, Kerry did a brilliant job of calming people down.

[karynnj]

2. Here's another article that I don't remember seeing with a lot of Kerry quotes

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/16/kerry-pakistan-sincere-in_n_151521.html