Thaindian News

New Delhi, May 2 (IANS) After the killing of Osama bin Laden, the evolving internal dynamics and stability of Pakistan will determine the fallout, if any, of this momentous event on its fractious relationship with India, experts here said.

“It will affect us to the extent how the situation, fallout develops inside Pakistan,” said Jamia Milia Islami’s pakistan studies programme associate professor Ajay Darshan Behera.

India has restarted a sustained dialogue process with Pakistan last month, which was stalled for nearly two years after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.

The world’s most wanted terrorist was shot dead in Pakistan, ending a 10-year manhunt that intensified with the traumatic Sep 11, 2001 terror attack on the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon.

“Justice has been done,” declared US President Barack Obama from the East Room of the White House describing how American military and CIA operatives finally cornered the Al Qaeda leader in Abbottabad, just 50 km northeast of Pakistan’s capital Islamabad.

India had been putting pressure on Pakistan to turn the screws on the masterminds of the Mumbai attack, especially Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafez Sayeed, but there has been not much progress, with Pakistan citing the legal hurdles.

Indian home minister P. Chidambaram said Monday that bin Laden’s killing “deep inside Pakistan” gave legitimacy to concerns that Pakistan was still harbouring terror organisations.

Behera said that it remains to be seen how the relationship between the United States and Pakistan will now evolve. “Pakistanis obviously have a lot of explaining to do,” said Behera.

It also remained to be seen what will be the domestic fallout, in terms of retaliatory attacks inside Pakistan. “We also do not know now how the internal dynamics will change within the government.. there are too many unknowns now,” said Jawaharlal Nehru University’s Savita Pande.

Further, she said that the Pakistani establishment was in a fix right now over acknowledging any role in the raid. Except for a statement from the foreign office stating that the raid was an US operation, there has been virtual silence from the Pakistani government.

“If they say that they took part in the raids, then they will face the wrath of the extremists. If they claim ignorance, then it will look ridiculous. Either way, the legitimacy of he government is precarious,” Pande maintained.

But, any fallout on relations with India, vis-a-vis Osama’s death, is too premature, said experts. “I was anyway one of the skeptics of the talks, which may not amount to much. The main impact from today will be on their relationship with US,” she added.

A similar sentiment was expressed by P.R. Chari, research professor at Delhi-based think tank Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies. “The killing should not have any implication for India-Pakistan relations as it was an independent American operation and no new revelations have been made,” he said.

He said that it was an absurdity to simply assume that bin Laden was in the Abottabad compound without Pakistani knowledge. “It was very unusual that Osama be hiding so close to a military academy, its like living near the National Defence Academy (in Khadakwasla),” said Chari.