There is no doubt that President Musharraf wants to avoid a war with India. So, let New Delhi not invite international condemnation and mutual destruction by imposing a war on him. International pressure and our ‘diplomatic agenda’ are doing much of the job for India.
So, why hurry with war-like gestures? If there is still some difference in our approach to and assessment of terrorism as a condemnable phenomenon then its roots go back to January 1986, when prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, openly argued that “there was a thin line between terrorism and freedom movement”, and referred to the West’s description of Nelson Mandela, who was then serving a long prison sentence in Rodin island, as an arch-terrorist.
So, it is better that New Delhi soon changes its posture and pronouncements and adopt a more flexible and friendly attitude. The adage is “Don’t hurt your foe when he seeks peace”.
A war will bring us neither glory nor territory, but only truck-loads of dead-bodies and an opportunity for our Coffin Chor defence minister to plunder more money.
