For Your Information
India-Pakistan Tensions: Fight for Control of South Asia
Since the December 13th attack on the Indian Parliament in Delhi - an attack which India blamed on Pakistani-backed terrorists - tensions between the neighbouring countries have increased dramatically. Each has stationed thousands of troops at key border areas and begun all-out war preparations. India is accusing Pakistan of sponsoring terrorist attacks in Indian-occupied Kashmir and other parts of India. Pakistan, a chief American ally in the U.S. "war against terrorism" has vehemently denied the charges.
Indeed, the Pakistani government of General Mushareef is playing a pivotal role in the U.S. bombing campaign against Afghanistan. Immediately following the September 11th terrorist attacks in the U.S., negotiations began between the Bush and Mushareef administrations to allow the U.S. to use Pakistan as a base from which to launch air strikes against Afghanistan. Pakistan, which at the time was one of only two countries in the world with full diplomatic relations with the Taliban government, agreed in exchange for a U.S. military and economic aid package. This new alliance between former foes has caused considerable internal problems in Pakistan.
Even more so, though, Pakistan's new role as U.S. ally has been of huge concern in India, where the ruling BJP had, prior to September 11th, been trying to carve out a role for India as the Americans' chief ally in South Asia.
The end result has been a series of grotesque manouevres, with the rulers of each country trying to outdo the other in seeking favour with U.S. imperialism. When Indian home minister L.K. Advani visited the U.S. in January, President Bush greeted him warmly and in a joint press conference, agreed with Advani's position that "Pakistan must act and not just talk" on the question of curtailing terrorist activities. Two days later, Bush also hailed Mushareef's address to Pakistanis in which he once again justified the military alliance with the U.S. and promised to crack down on terrorism.
The Americans - and the British, for that matter - are using the renewed Indo-Pakistani tensions as a pretext for further interventions in South Asia. In the last six months, British Prime Minister Tony Blair has visited the region twice, officially to shore up support for the "war on terrorism" but each time accompanied by British capitalists from a variety of industries who are trying to secure a stranglehold over the lucrative South Asian markets.
Several high-ranking members of the Bush administration, most notably Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfield and Secretary of State Colin Powell, have also visited the region. The Americans have moved quickly to take advantage of the opportunities to strengthen their power and influence in the region.
At the end of January, a delegation of security experts from the FBI and CIA arrived in India. Led by FBI director Robert Muller, the delegation formed part of a "joint action understanding" between the Indian and U.S. governments. Mueller met the director of India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). (The CBI and FBI have announced they will be cooperating and coordinating anti-terrorist activities in the future, much to the Indian government's delight.)
Muller's next stop was Pakistan, where he held similar meetings and solidified continued Pakistani support for covert actions in Afghanistan and Pakistan to round up suspected members of Al-Queda and the Taliban.