Terrorists fail to scuttle India-Pakistan peace process<\/p>\n
Siddhartha Kumar, Guardian News Service, New Delhi<\/p>\n
Even fire-crackers ignited by children ahead of the Hindu
\nfestival Diwali are now enough to make Delhi residents' heart
\nskip a beat.<\/p>\n
A rude reminder of the powerful blasts that ripped through the
\ncity's marketplaces Saturday, making the busy Indian capital
\nlapse into a grim, melancholy silence seen only in the aftermath
\nof a such an attack.<\/p>\n
One of the chief aims behind the terrorist attacks - which
\nstruck with \"maximum impact\" in two coordinated blasts in busy
\nshopping areas in the heart of the Indian capital - was to
\njettison the India- Pakistan peace process.<\/p>\n
While such attacks in India in the past invariably put a
\nquestion mark over the fate of the India-Pakistan peace process,
\nit was not the case this time.<\/p>\n
Soon after Delhi's worst-ever terror attack, the regional
\nneighbors displayed the political will to take a landmark step to
\nimprove relations, rendering futile efforts by militants to
\nscuttle the peace process, analysts said.<\/p>\n
In an unprecedented move, Pakistani and Indian diplomats
\nsuccessfully concluded negotiations to open points along the de
\nfacto border or Line of Control (LoC) to facilitate relief in
\nwake of the devastating earthquake that claimed thousands of
\nlives in the Kashmir region.<\/p>\n
Indian media also reported that terrorist organizations who
\nplanned the blasts in New Delhi were incensed at the progress in
\nthe peace process, particularly as discussions to open the LoC
\nwere perceived as a signal towards bilateral ties.<\/p>\n
The nuclear-armed neighbors with a history of hostile
\nrelations thus consolidated the peace process they embarked on
\nlast year.<\/p>\n
\"Notwithstanding the fact that the terrorists are linked or
\nnot linked to Pakistan, as that is yet unclear, India-Pakistan
\nrelations have acquired a certain resilience whereby they can
\nsustain and are not changed by Saturday's attack,\" said Commodore
\nUday Bhaskar, deputy director of Institute of Defense Studies and
\nAnalyses.<\/p>\n
New Delhi has long accused Pakistan of training and aiding
\nterrorists who carry out attacks in India, particularly in the
\nKashmir region over which the two neighbors have fought two of
\nthree wars since independence.<\/p>\n
Kashmir and terrorism are the two main elements in the peace-
\nprocess between the neighbors. India has on several occasions
\nasked Pakistan to rein in terrorists and dismantle the terror
\ninfrastructure on its soil. Pakistan calls the militants in
\nKashmir, freedom-fighters, but has banned some groups based on
\nits soil.<\/p>\n
The current equation between the neighbors is even more
\nsignificant, if the role played by militants in upsetting India-
\nPakistan ties is considered.<\/p>\n
Pakistan-based Moslem terrorist organizations Lashkar-e-Toiba
\n(LeT) and Jaish-E-Mohammed (JeM) which are suspected by the
\nIndian police of being behind the Delhi attacks, carried out an
\nattack on the Indian parliament in 2001, bringing the neighbors
\nto the brink of a full-scale war.<\/p>\n
LeT which is fighting to end Delhi's control over Kashmir has
\nbeen blamed for several attacks in Indian-administered Kashmir
\nand other parts of India.<\/p>\n
LeT chose sensitive places like places of worship, like the
\nSwami Narayan Temple or just before Diwali, to spark communal
\nstrife in India that would disrupt daily life and thus affect the
\npeace dialogue with Pakistan.<\/p>\n
In July this year, LeT was believed to be involved in the
\nattack on India's best-known communal tinderbox, the Ram
\nJanambhoomi Babri Masjid complex in the northern Indian town of
\nAyodhya. The site is disputed between Hindus and Moslems.<\/p>\n
Soon after the attack, Indian Premier Manmohan Singh calling
\nit a \"major incident\" expressed concern that \"these incidents...
\nhave the potential to disrupt\" the India Pakistan peace process.
\nBut the atmosphere in the India-Pakistan dialogue have clearly
\nchanged since then.<\/p>\n
\"It is a positive augury ... the dialogue process has acquired
\nsuch resilience,\" Bhaskar said. \"That is demonstrated by the fact
\nthat Islamabad was quick to lend its voice in the international
\ncondemnation of the attacks in India. Also, India didn't jump the
\ngun in pointing its finger towards Pakistan.\"<\/p>",
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