Editorial
The Manmohan-Zardari meeting
Expectations tempered with reality
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's message to visiting Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari could not have come in a clearer manner. The Indian leader has told Mr. Zardari that Pakistan needs to act tough on terror. His view that the people of India will judge Pakistan on the basis of what action it takes against terrorism, especially in light of the Mumbai tragedy of 2008, is a blunt statement but one that could not have been made any other way. Pakistan's failure to rein in its terrorists has brought it to its present sad pass.
Which all goes to show the uneviable position President Zardari is in. Placed in power accidentally through the assassination of his wife Benazir Bhutto, Zardari has not had a comfortable time in office. Of late, the determined effort by the Supreme Court to have old cases of corruption against him revived has caused much haemorrhaging of his government. His prime minister has been battling bravely to keep his head above the water. Besides, a traditionally restive army has of late felt humiliated by a letter written to a high US military official seeking help in preventing a coup in the country. That has made Zardari even more vulnerable despite his sacking of the man who had sent off that message, former ambassador to Washington Hussain Haqqani.
To be sure, Zardari's visit to Delhi is a purely personal one, connected as it is with his trip to Ajmer Sharif. But the meeting with the Indian prime minister, like all previous meetings between earlier Indian and Pakistani leaders, is being regarded as an opportunity for a fresh new beginning. One hopes the opportunity this time will lead to concrete results and yet one is not ready to raise one's expectations too high. Fingers need to be kept crossed.
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