Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has taken a calculated Pakistan gamble, of which the much-debated joint statement is only a small part. Unsurprisingly, he chose to defend his position very strongly in Parliament on Wednesday. The PM has already shown that he has the ability to lend his considerable weight to even his most contentious policy decisions. As finance minister, he stood by economic reforms despite considerable opposition and then as PM, he staked his government?s continuance in office on the ambitious nuclear deal with the US. Quite clearly, he has chosen engagement with Pakistan as a major agenda item during this term. And his speech in Parliament, backed by strong support from the Congress president, was a spirited reply to critics, some within his own party who have been speaking sotto voce. By invoking Vajpayee?s vision, he put the BJP in a spot?after all, Vajpayee had chosen to speak to Musharraf after Kargil, Kandahar and the Parliament attack. True, the reference to Balochistan in the joint statement still seems odd. But if Pakistan tries to make too much mischief out of that, all bets are off anyway. The PM?s spin on what has been seen as delinking terror and the composite dialogue is that action on terrorism could not be linked to anything, including the composite dialogue. Pakistan had to take action on terror without any conditions at all. The PM could also confidently told the Opposition that he had succeeded in getting Pakistan to confess to the role of its nationals and an organisation based on its territory in a terrorist attack on India for the first time. Overall, he seemed to have deflected most of the criticism, paving the way for a welcome resumption of the dialogue with Pakistan. The Prime Minister is on the ball when he says that we have no choice but to engage Pakistan. War is certainly not an option any sensible Indian should advocate. The ?trust, but verify? approach is worth trying.
What was also good was that we witnessed a genuinely important and quality debate in Parliament after a long time. Yashwant Sinha made a carefully thought-out and intelligent intervention on behalf of the BJP, which otherwise seems a party in disarray, lacking in focus. On a matter of national importance such as this, it was also good to see the Prime Minister respond in Parliament?too often, much of the most important policy decisions and actions take place without Parliament being bothered about them. By placing his views on the floor of Parliament, the Prime Minister gave them that extra bit of weight, particularly on Pakistan where they now have the responsibility to respond with concrete action, and soon.
