Barack Obama should negotiate with Osama bin Laden!

How does it sound, stupid? Well, that’s exactly how America sounds when it advises India to negotiate with Pakistan. What al-Qaeda is to the United States Pakistan is to India. If only Americans could understand this simple fact, negotiations would be much simpler for Indo-US relations. Probably the US policy makers don’t care about India’s concerns, in which case why should Indians care either? In any case in the next few decades, Americans would just have to learn to respect India and its opinions. India is going to be the largest economy on planet earth by 2050 and a very significant military power as well. This is not my wishful thinking but an undisputed reality. A country of 1.2 billion English speaking people can not be wished away! By 2050 a democratic India might have a population of 2 billion people with a middle class of 600 million. It would be the biggest consumer market in the world with a much smaller China playing a second fiddle to its size and influence. The Indian subcontinent might have a population of 3 billion people in its 1200 districts. India would have strong presence in all twelve hundred districts, including the area now called Pakistan. China and Pakistan both need to THINK seriously about future!

President Obama keeps sending Richard Holbrooke, US special envoy to AfPak, to the area again and again to report on the ground situation. Pakistan refuses to let him visit the affected areas with the excuse of security concerns. Holbrooke in turn reports to Obama whatever the Pakistanis tell him about the actual progress. Obama also persists with roping in India about a dialogue with Pakistan and India keeps turning down the request by Richard Holbrooke on his behalf. This chicken and mouse game is going on and on for the past 6 months. I wonder how long Richard Holbrooke would subject himself to such humiliation! The fact that India is actively supporting the Afghan government with development projects should have been enough for Washington to keep away from the Kashmir fiasco. The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article, “India Befriends Afghanistan, Irking Pakistan”, that explains the reason why the US keeps pushing India with no possible outcome. Holbrooke also keeps pushing Pakistanis to keep the pressure on Taliban and not let their guard down. An article in The New York Times, “US Presses Pakistan on Taliban”, suggests that Americans are not likely to persuade the generals in Pakistan to give up their terror instruments of foreign policy. America’s Pakistan policy lacks intellectual honesty. Some very talented people are being wasted on a twisted vision!