If international intervention is unpredictable in its consequences, the bilateral framework with Pakistan becomes all the more important for India. When all is said and done, India and Pakistan will finally have to sort things out between themselves. That brings us to the third and most complex element of Dr Singh’s three-pronged strategy: the search for definitive results from Pakistan on eliminating the sources of anti-India terror from its soil.

In the Lok Sabha, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee reaffirmed that India will not be “provoked” into a knee-jerk military confrontation with Pakistan after Mumbai. The prime minister, however, cautioned the world not to mistake India’s restraint for weakness. Together they are signalling that India will not rule out other options if its current diplomatic effort fails to produce satisfactory results. Dr Singh and Mukherjee have also underlined India’s nuanced understanding of the complex civil-military relationship in Pakistan today. As Mukherjee told the Lok Sabha, India has “no quarrel with the democratic government in Pakistan”. He, however, insisted that India cannot simply stand by if the democratic government across the border cannot deny its territory for unending aggression against India. Neither Dr Singh nor Mukherjee trashed the steps that Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has taken so far against the terror groups. While noting those actions, the prime minister simply demanded that they “should be pursued, taken to their logical conclusion”. Mukherjee suggested that India is “ready to help” if Pakistan’s civilian leadership can keep its promise to “deny sanctuary” to the terror groups.

... contd.