The fallacies behind India's Pakistan policy - Windows Live

• The fallacies behind India's Pakistan policy - Windows Live

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  • Dangerous misconceptions

    Brahma Chellaney

  • Singh’s recent statements in Parliament point to the fallacies on which he has been reconstructing his Pakistan policy. His personal imprint on that policy bears at least eight perilous misconceptions.
  • One, political geography is unalterable.
  • Two, India and Pakistan are locked by a shared destiny
  • Three, the alternative to a policy seeking to placate a terror-exporting adversary is war.
  • Four, India cannot emerge as a world power without making peace with Pakistan.
  • Five, as India has nothing to hide and indeed “our conduct is an open book,” it can let Pakistan include any issue in the bilateral agenda.
  • Six, if Pakistan merely acknowledges what is incontrovertible, that is enough for India to change policy course.
  • Seven, high-level dialogue and “meaningful” dialogue can be optically delinked
  • Eight, diplomacy of hope and prayer makes sense