Thaindian News

By Arun Kumar
Washington, Feb 5 (IANS) Pakistan is likely to accept the Indian offer of foreign secretary-level talks but with Islamabad expected to continue skirting around the key issue of terrorism the talks are headed for a shaky start, a leading US strategic think tank predicted.

“India will want to talk about Pakistani-sponsored militancy and Taliban negotiations. Pakistan will want to talk about everything else. It will be up to the United States to attempt to bridge this difficult gap,” said Stratfor, which calls itself the global intelligence company.

Though little progress has been made in India’s efforts to get Islamabad to crack down on India-focused militants operating on Pakistani soil, India’s concerns over Taliban appeasement in Afghanistan are driving New Delhi toward engagement with Islamabad, the think tank said.

While US officials have long been pushing both sides to resume dialogue, India has resisted, claiming that little has been done by Islamabad to crack down on India-focused militant groups, most notably Lashkar-e-Taiba, that are operating on Pakistani soil under the nose of the Pakistan’s security apparatus, the think tank said.

But “Pakistan can be expected to continue skirting around this issue, as it already is struggling to rein in former militant proxies while neutralising those that have turned against the state,” it said.

Judging from the Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman’s remarks Thursday calling for a wide-ranging dialogue, rather than the focused approach India is advocating, India-Pakistan talks appear to be headed for a shaky start, Stratfor said.

The US has a deep interest in keeping Indo-Pakistani relations on an even keel right now, Stratfor said, noting “already facing shaky prospects for military success in Afghanistan, the United States must have Pakistani cooperation if it hopes to gain an intelligence edge on Al Qaeda and Taliban militants in the region.”

“The last thing Washington needs is for Pakistan to be distracted from its counter-terrorism obligations by a conflict with India that would play to the jihadists’ favour,” it said.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)