Is Not Cancellation of Meeting Is More of Face Saver for Antony's Faux Pas ?

The  rosy story of most successful India-Pakistan dialogue process period till 2008, was abruptly abandoned at the 26/11 attacks, and again the prospective fresh dialogue summit supposed to take place in September this year with the incumbent new Pakistan Prime Minster Nawaz Sharif, has been cancelled by the reluctant and silent Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his address to the nation from Lal Killa on 67th Independence Day Celebration , amid nation wide protest and opposition after the ambush and killing of six Indian soldiers by the Pakistani troops in the disguise of terrorists.

The current episode needs an analytical analysis in the prospective of the circumstances and history of last one decade, when several peace processes were initiated and but abruptly left for reasons one or another and dumped for long periods till again a fresh change in atmosphere takes place.

The ups and downs in this traverse journey of such animated peace dialogues always leave behind some traces, some puzzling links, a difficult task for the political strategists to ponder over the ultimate reasons behind the game , but fail substantially in pinpointing the true play behind the scene, at least for the vast knowledge in public domain. Repeating the same story one may put the few pointer case scenario relating the recent attack on Indian soldiers at the LoC as below.

a) The attack was managed by the Pakistan Army in knowledge of Nawaz Sharif, as the new prime minister want to secure his position among the hardliners in Pakistan, including the Army, who are visibly upset with the peace in Kashmir and their terror operations going weak. This leading to a feeling that their influence in the Kashmir Valley is slipping.

b) In the second case it may be individualistic work of the Pakistan Army only to maintain their importance in the national politics of Pakistan, that may be short of a rebuke to Sharif’s overtures to India. 

c) In one of least probable possibility, this may be a local effort of Pakistani troops and the jihadi terror groups influenced by their leader Hafiz Syed's threat call, and without the knowledge  of their civil bosses, or the consent and support of the Pakistan Army top brass. This is assumed scenario, with a view to the rising influence and infiltration of jihadi elements in the Pakistani army, at different levels.

In such disguised and illusory circumstances , Indian leadership has to fight hard to find a suitable future course by making a far sighted and judged decision, more importantly , it has to tackle simultaneously from both militarily, where threat of "tit for tat" may be the line of action; and diplomatically pressurising them on bilateral as well international level by accusing them while pinpointing their culpability and collusion in the crime of killing six soldiers across the border and continued violation of cease fire on LoC.

Alas ! if our Defence Minister had not blundered by the faux pas through the statement in the Indian Parliament ? 

We have almost surrendered the best chance of nailing them with the crime they did so bluntly. And today decision of cancelling the summit,  was more to dilute the blame earned by Mr. Antony, rather less of an judged decision, where we could have ripped open their collusive bogey in the name of Kashmir at international platform.

Will Defence Minister Antony faux pas in Parliament May Cost India, a Serious Liability ?

Defence Minister Antony faux pas in the Indian Parliament can become for  India, a serious liability, like when the Pakistani high commissioner Salman Bashir on Sunday has voiced his argument that India's reaction to the August 6 killing of five Indian soldiers may have been based on an "afterthought".

Salman Bashir suggested that India's second official reaction on Thursday, in which it blamed the Pakistan army, may have been an afterthought. He was asked if he really thought that India did not initially believe that the attack was carried out by Pakistan army regulars. He said, "I would not say that this is the conclusion I am drawing but it is very evident from the way things have happened in terms of the statements, that there is what I say an afterthought that is involved,''.

The gross mistake of soft and low speaking Defence Minister Antony has emboldened Pakistan as the Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing at ten Indian posts, from across the Line of Control of Poonch, while the civil authorities at Islamabad continued with its aggressive stance and denied any wrongdoing on Sunday.While officials in Islamabad warned of a possible escalation in tensions with India if the latest initiative of PM Nawaz Sharif failed.

Defence minister AK Antony had said in Parliament on August 6 that the attack was perpetrated by men dressed in Pakistan army uniforms, apart from terrorists, before he retracted two days later and said the killings were the handiwork of Pakistan army.

Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said India wants the Pakistan government to take responsibility for the killings of five (NOW GOING UP TO SIX) of its soldiers on the LoC on August 6,as he said,"The responsibility must rest with the government. Our meeting point is the civilian-elected government of Pakistan, not the Pakistan Army or any other agency,".

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said that violations of ceasefire along the LoC by Pakistan are triggered to force India to respond,as these violations are intended to either facilitate infiltration or distract attention from internal failures of Pakistan. 

Addressing a huge youth rally at Hyderabad, BJP's Narendra Modi recalled the Prime Minister's stern warning to Pakistan that it cannot be business as usual following the beheading of Indian soldiers by Pakistani troops in January, and asked, "I want to ask the Prime Minister You assured the nation that you will not tolerate such acts. But again last week's incidents at the LoC have shaken the nation and raised a question 'whom do we trust?',".

BJP Chief Rajnath Singh blamed UPA's "inaction" for Pakistan daring to attack India and also demanded that India's High Commissioner to Pakistan be recalled and diplomatic relations with that country scaled down. "You should declare today itself that there will be no talks with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Also, you should take effective steps by taking all political parties into confidence. All limits have been crossed now," .

Time will tell, how much  the diplomatic and strategic missed ground the present Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be able to cover, though by this faux pas of the Defence Minister Antony, has made Indian position suspectable in world forum, where many enemies are searching opportunity to negate India's genuine concerns ? This will be a costly mistake of missed opportunity to nail Pakistan for its continued misdeeds again sadly with a possible retrospective effect, the havoc of which, many of the learned politicians have failed to gauge.