Indian Reservations

About six weeks ago, on November 26, terrorists stormed the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai, India.  Since then allegations have littered the air that the perpetrators are from Pakistan, with whom India has had a long history of violence.  The Indian government has plenty of proof that the terrorists are Pakistani, but the Pakistani government is denying all claims.  The Pakistani government, now headed by Benazir Bhutto's widower Asif Zardari, is still under the surviving leadership of a military coup in 1958.  The militant government has said that they are committed to aiding the United States in the war on terror and that they are taking the fight to the terrorists in the northwest quadrant.  However, India is not very convinced of this as they are continually attacked.

Both India and Pakistan have nuclear weapons.  We just signed a nuclear arms deal with India and have been allies with Pakistan since we started the war on terror.  Our government has tried every possible way to apologize for the failures of the Pakistani government as a surrogate to apologizing for our own inability.  The United States military already tried following the insurgents from Afghanistan back to their bases in Pakistan, and were both scolded and unsuccessful.  We were told by our ally that invasions of their territory for the purposes of combating terrorism "would not be tolerated".

I guess India is on its own for this one.  India does not have the ability to idly stand by as terrorists flow across the border through the Kashmir territory.  Since both nations have been fighting for a very long time, people in both nations are agitated with the actions of the other nation.  Building armies for a war would not be difficult, they have fought several times in the last fifty years.  Also, because they are both nuclear powers, all parties involved are trying to prevent open warfare.

That leaves one course of action: diplomacy.  Many in India feel that a return to old school politics, closer to Otto Von Bismarck's realpolitik, is necessary.  Attempts at UN sanctions have been unsucessful and without proof that the government is directly involved in the attacks the world court is powerless.

With no one fully in India's corner, it is very difficult for them to be able to be strong without being belligerent.  This gives Pakistan a hand up in the diplomatic battle for the international community's support.

At least someone is trying to fight with words even though they are far more justified to try a militant course.