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By Inder Jit<\/strong><\/p>\n (Released on 21 April 1981)<\/strong><\/p>\n \n India continues to strive hard to somehow block American arms for Pakistan. New Delhi has not only communicated its views on the subject to Washington, but also sought to use the British Prime Minister\u2019s visit to India to mount pressure on the US Administration. Mr\u2019s Gandhi raised the issue with Mrs Thatcher both privately and publicly in her official talks and in Parliament\u2019s Central Hall where a departure was made from established practice on the occasion of the British Prime Minister\u2019s address to MPs to enable her also to speak. \u201cThe spectre of cold war peeping in our doorway causes us grave apprehension\u201d, said Mrs Gandhi and added: \u201cWe have already spoken to you about the dangers of giving sophisticated arms to Pakistan.\u201d But New Delhi has again drawn a blank. What is worse, Mrs Thatcher made out a powerful case for Pakistan in New Delhi at her Press conference which will be remembered for her superb performance. She answered questions candidly and forthrightly without the slightest attempt to either hedge or side step or, like Mr Morarji Desai, reply with counter questions!<\/p>\n We in India have undoubtedly every reason to be gravely concerned over the prospect of fresh supply of American arms to Pakistan. Our country has been attacked thrice by Pakistan in the past three decades and more proving right Krishna Menon\u2019s brilliant quip: No one has yet produced a gun which fires only in one direction. Experience has also shown that military regimes are inclined to be less restrained and more trigger happy; both the 1965 and 1971 wars were launched by Pakistan while the country was ruled by Generals Ayub and Yahya Khan. But then Pakistan, too, has a problem on its hands, as Mrs Thatcher argued at her Press conference. The Soviet Union has \u201cinvaded\u201d and \u201coccupied an independent and non-Aligned Afghanistan\u201d, posing a threat to Pakistan. \u201cI would be concerned if I had Soviet troops on my border. I would be getting all the means to defend myself and my people.\u201d India, she added, had increased its defence capability \u201cenormously\u201d and was in a position to defend itself. \u201cYou cannot deny the same right to another sovereign nation.\u201d<\/p>\n \n Gen Zia recalled his offer to Swaran Singh: “I said to him. Tell us, whether Pakistan should have a force for its own security or not. Should India have a force for its security or not? And if you come to the conclusion that there is justification for Pakistan to have an armed force for its own security, then ask your (military) experts to tell us what should be the strength of our forces considering the defence requirements of a country like Pakistan and its geographic borders. I would accept their assessment and not debate it.”<\/em><\/p>\n \n A question which needs to be asked is: Can something be done to avert an arms race in the sub-continent? Two possible answers are available. Ideally, the best would be to get the Soviet Union to pull out of Afghanistan. All the countries, including Pakistan, have now veered round to India\u2019s view that this can be achieved only through a political solution and not militarily. Yet, enough has not been done for a political solution. The recent non-aligned meet in New Delhi took welcome initiative in setting up a four-nation committee to help resolve the Iran-Iraq conflict. The committee has since been vigorously following up its mandate and shuttling between world capitals. Yet the meet did not consider it necessary to either send a mission to Moscow on the Afghan issue or to set up a committee to help find a political solution. Even today, many feel that India, which has a vital security stake in getting the Soviets back to the Oxus, could help itself, the sub-continent and peace generally by taking a clear initiative regionally.<\/p>\n Opinion is divided on whether any such initiative would yield results. The Soviet Union seems to have little intention of pulling out of Afghanistan. But this need not cause us despair in rest our search for some way to avert an arms race between India and Pakistan. A second solution lies in taking Gen Zia at his word and accepting a unilateral offer he made to Mr Swaran Singh in April last year an offer which he repeated to me in an interview in reply to the question: \u201cDo you think some kind of a permanent arrangement needs to be made to ensure against the build-up of a dangerous war psychosis between our two countries?\u201d He said: \u201cWell, the whole thing starts from a lack of trust. We must not forget that India and Pakistan have fought three wars. I only hope we have both realised the futility of wars… Wars do not solve political problems. In this year of the Lord 1981, might should not be right… We must create more confidence in the minds of not only the people but also at the Government level.\u201d<\/p>\n \n Some Soviet commentators have reportedly suggested that the American arms for Pakistan are designed to prod Islamabad to fulfil “its old territorial ambitions in regard to Kashmir.” But this is essentially an attempt on the part of Moscow to fish in the sub-continent’s troubled waters.<\/em><\/p>\n \n He then recalled his offer to Mr Swaran Singh: \u201cI said to him. Tell us, whether Pakistan should have a force for its own security or not. Should India have a force for its security or not? And if you come to the conclusion that there is justification for Pakistan to have an armed force for its own security, then ask your (military) experts to tell us what should be the strength of our forces considering the defence requirements of a country like Pakistan and its geographic borders. I would accept their assessment and not debate it. In the process, you may probably ask our reaction. If you were to say all right, Pakistan should have this much and India that much. I said have as much as you like, I am not concerned. But I would be very much concerned when 18 divisions face Pakistan. We have then to think twice as to what all this exercise is about. But I made this offer. Unfortunately, we had no reaction at first. The reaction that came much later was \u2018No\u2019. India said this is not a fair proposition. Because, Pakistan should have what Pakistan thinks necessary and India should have what India thinks necessary.<\/p>\n \u201cThen I said, if that be the case, why should India get allergic to Pakistan\u2019s stress on its legitimate defence requirements. Here again, I proposed that if you want to know what we have and what we do not have, please come and ask me. I will tell you exactly what we have. And what you have I will not challenge. India is a big country. Pakistan realises this… We very humbly suggest to you and through you to the people of India that it is about time that both countries decided what was good for them. As for Pakistan, I can say there is no doubt in my mind that the good of both the countries lies in peaceful relationship, in mutual understanding, confidence, and respect. Pakistan is a small country. India is a bigger country, Pakistan today does not consider itself in competition with India. We can\u2019t. We are 80 million people. India is 650 million people. India is a bigger partner in this. It has a clear role to play and we grant it that much. But I think there is need for a better understanding and more confidence. I am sure sooner or later these will come.\u201d<\/p>\n I then said: \u201cThese are excellent thoughts, Mr President, I recall having a chat with Sardar Swaran Singh on his return. He and many others in the country felt that any discussion in regard to the defence forces of the two countries would have to be preceded by some political understanding. Is that what he said to you?\u201d Gen Zia replied, \u201cNo, he did not say so. We were discussing bilateral relations and came to the question of defence forces. This is what I offered unilaterally, as an idea. However, I agree that everything must emerge from a political understanding which will about better military understanding and more confidence in each other. (Almost a year to the day, I wrote: \u201cNotwithstanding their difference of perception, New Delhi has sought to end Islamabad\u2019s misgivings about India and, in the bargain, conceded Pakistan\u2019s concern for its security from across the Afghan border. Islamabad has been reassured by Mr Swaran Singh that India presents no security problem to Pakistan and that Pakistan should regard its eastern border with India as \u201ca frontier of peace.\u201d)<\/p>\n Gen Zia also made some other remarks in the course of the interview which assume urgency and importance on two other grounds. First, in the context of the continuing talk of Pakistan\u2019s determined effort to go in for the nuclear bomb and Mrs Gandhi\u2019s forthright declaration in Parliament that India would respond appropriately in case Pakistan decided to go in for nuclear arms. (Some leading commentators are already advocating the view that India should exercise its nuclear option before Pakistan does so.) Second, in the overall context of the continuing cold war between the two countries and the fresh arms race, Gen Zia emphatically denied that Pakistan had any intention of either making a nuclear bomb or of detonating a nuclear device for peaceful purposes. Pakistan, he said, wanted nuclear technology to fill the gap of its energy requirement. Its programme was \u201cpeaceful and modest.\u201d Gen Zia also said that he regarded the Simla Agreement as a no-war pact and emphasised: \u201cWe should stop living in the past… (and) start a new chapter.\u201d<\/p>\n \n India and Pakistan already regard the Simla Agreement as a “no-war pact.” They should now consider ending the arms race which will only make them more dependent on the Super Powers. The two countries need to go beyond the Agreement towards a possible treaty of peace and friendship.<\/em><\/p>\n \n From here to where? Gen Zia has spoken and, as I said earlier, we should take him at his word. Full advantage should be taken of Mr P.V. Narasimha Rao\u2019s visit to Islamabad next month to begin a meaningful dialogue to avert an arms race and end the cold war, which is already causing both India and Pakistan enormous damage. Some Soviet commentators have reportedly suggested that the American arms for Pakistan are designed to prod Islamabad to fulfil \u201cits old territorial ambitions in regard to Kashmir.\u201d But this is essentially an attempt on the part of Moscow to fish in the sub-continent\u2019s troubled waters. Pakistan may or may not accept the line of actual control in Jammu and Kashmir as an international frontier under the Simla Agreement. However, its willingness to go by India\u2019s assessment of its security requirements reflects a departure from its old policy and an inclination to accept a peaceful final settlement of the Kashmir issue.<\/p>\n Time is here for a bold response to Gen Zia\u2019s offer and to test his sincerity. It is not enough that we keep talking of the East-West detente. New Delhi and Islamabad need to turn their thoughts to lowering tensions within the sub-continent itself. India should accept Pakistan\u2019s need to strengthen its defences as a frontline state in terms of Gen Zia\u2019s offer. Simultaneously, it should also seek an agreement in regard to nuclear development and leave no scope for mutual distrust. Indeed, Mrs Gandhi and Gen Zia should meet to gain understanding of each other\u2019s viewpoint and explore the areas of cooperation. Mrs Gandhi conveyed to Gen Zia in February last India\u2019s respect for the integrity, sovereignty and independence of Pakistan. Gen Zia has reciprocated by sending a warm message through Mrs Thatcher. India and Pakistan already regard the Simla Agreement as a \u201cno-war pact.\u201d They should now consider ending the arms race which will only make them more dependent on the Super Powers. The two countries need to go beyond the Agreement towards a possible treaty of peace and friendship. \u2014 INFA<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Inder Jit (Released on 21 April 1981) India continues to strive hard to somehow block American arms for Pakistan. New Delhi has not only communicated its views on the subject to Washington, but also sought to use the British Prime Minister\u2019s visit to India to mount pressure on the US Administration. 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