The Fight for Pakistan

This article was published in The Weekly Standard on January 29, 2010

While much focus is on Pakistan’s struggle against insurgents in tribal areas along its western border with Afghanistan, the real danger to regional stability — indeed, to Pakistan’s survival as a viable state — is on the other side of the country, in Punjab, which borders India. Punjab is population-wise Pakistan’s largest province, and its power is visible in the Punjabi-dominated military, bureaucracy, academia and media. Politically, Punjab sends the maximum number of seats to the National Assembly. And, culturally, Punjab’s famed city of Lahore is said to lie at the heart of Pakistani culture.

 

 

U.S.-Pakistan: Need for Rethink

This article appeared in Indolink on December 6, 2009

President Obama’s speech on Tuesday night was significant both for what was explicitly stated – more troops for Afghanistan – and for what was not said –American policy towards Pakistan.

What America faces in South Asia is something unique: for the first time in decades not only is South Asia critical to American security interests but America has three allies in the region –  Afghanistan, Pakistan and India – who share antagonistic relationships with each other. Afghanistan fears Pakistani intentions and has tried to ally with India to counter any Pakistani actions. Pakistan feels threatened by supposed Indian nefarious designs and seeks to prevent any Indo-Afghan ties. India has very good ties with Afghanistan but has fought four wars with Pakistan. 

 

 

Indian PM Visits US: Then and Now

By Aparna Pande
This piece appeared in Indolink on November 27, 2009

In 1950 India’s First Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru visited the United States. The American media and the Truman administration went all out to welcome Premier Nehru. This week India’s 17^th Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh is on a state visit to the United States. The Obama administration, Washington’s policy-making elite and the media are once again celebrating this occasion. It is time to step back and look at the changed Indo-U.S. relationship, then and now.

 

In 1950 India was a 400 million strong country, independent for only 3 years, with a proud history and civilization but with very little resources. According to Premier Nehru, the architect of India’s foreign policy, the independence of India signaled the “rise of Asia.” As a secular democratic country keen to join the free world, the Indian leadership was keen to build ties with the United States. 

 

 

India and Pakistan: Moving On

By Aparna Pande
This article appeared in Indolink on September 2, 2009

India’s major opposition party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has been in internal turmoil since the elections of May 2009. These tensions have once again come to the fore. In mid-August former Foreign Minister and Finance Minister Jaswant Singh released his book on Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Pakistan’s founding father. Considering how most right-wing parties in India, including the BJP, blame Mr. Jinnah, and his party the Muslim League, for Partition which led to the ‘vivisection’ of ‘Mother India’ Mr Singh’s book created a furore. Not only was Mr. Singh expelled from the party but the state of Gujarat, led by a BJP Chief Minister even banned the book. What this incident reflects is the extent to which Partition still frames the discourse in India and Pakistan.

 

 

Changed Equations: Sino-Pakistan Relations

By Aparna Pande
This article appeared in Outlook India on August 25, 2009

Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari arrived in China on Friday, August 21, on his fourth visit to the country since taking over as President in September 2008. President Zardari is not the first Pakistani President to visit China so often. Regular visits to China are routine for every Pakistani head of state going back to the 1960s-1970s. 

 

Pakistan: Balance of Power

By Aparna Pande

This article appeared in Outlook India on July 10, 2009

With four periods of military rule and constant interference by the military even in eras of civilian rule, Pakistan’s democratic system has still not been able to establish firm roots. Though modelled on the British parliamentary system, Pakistan’s military rulers, from Ayub to Musharraf, have tried to impose a semi-presidential system without much success.

 

Kashmir’s Right and Our Obligation

By Aparna Pande
This article appeared in Indolink on June 25, 2009

Home Minister Chidambaram recently put forth the proposal for a phased withdrawal of both paramilitary and armed forces from Jammu and Kashmir to be replaced by the local police. Instead of welcoming this move various voices, especially from the right wing, have challenged this proposal. 

 

Pakistan: In Our Vital Interest

By Aparna Pande

This article appeared in Outlook India on June 10, 2009

 On June 9, 2009 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stated in the Lok Sabha, “I sincerely believe it is in our vital interest therefore to try again to make peace with Pakistan … If the leaders of Pakistan have the courage, the determination and the statesmanship to take this road to peace, I wish to assure them that we will meet them more than half way.” 

 

Pakistan: Ungoverned Spaces

By Aparna Pande

This article appeared in Outlook India on May 28, 2009

“There was only one sensible thing to do and that was to withdraw our troops from the North West Frontier. A committee … had studied the problem and recommended that the army be withdrawn from Waziristan.”" 

Astonishing as it may sound, this is not a statement by former president General Musharraf, present President Zardari or present army chief General Kayani. This was stated over five decades ago by Pakistan’s first military ruler, General Ayub Khan. 

 

India-Pakistan: Does the House Always Win

By Aparna Pande
This article appeared in Indolink on April 21, 2009

The recent victory of the Sri Lankan army over the insurgent LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) brings to mind the age-old adage: ‘The House Always Wins!’ 

The Sri Lankan government led by President Rajpaksa has given the Tigers 24 hours to surrender. In a recent interview President Rajapaksha stated: “It’s all now all over for the Tigers.” The Sri Lankan civil war has been ongoing for almost three decades.