India happy Hasina is back

JYOTI MALHOTRA

New Delhi, May 15, 2007 : India is ``very happy’’ that Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina is back home in Bangladesh, and while elections should be held as early as possible, New Delhi also understands the need for cleansing the political process that is currently being undertaken by the army-led government in Dhaka.

Sources in the establishment spoke on a wide variety of foreign policy issues in the capital today, from India’s concern over the unstable situation in Pakistan to the need for Sri Lanka to evolve a much more comprehensive package where power could be shared with the Tamil population.

On the nuclear deal currently being negotiated with the US, the sources said the negotiations were on track and that India would not close its option to conduct a nuclear test. They said US undersecretary of state for political affairs Nicholas Burns was going to be in town next week for another round of talks on the nuclear deal.

``The situation in Pakistan is not good,’’ the sources said, adding, ``what happened in Karachi on Saturday was terrible.’’

The sources pointed out that despite the instability of this situation, India had decided to keep with the peace process with Pakistan because India’s goals were not limited to negotiating with the regime there, but included the people in that country.

So whether Musharraf stayed or was ousted from power, either by pressure from within the Army or from outside, New Delhi would persist with the peace momentum. The Indian agenda to continue the peace negotiations with Islamabad was being done in the ``Indian interest,’’ they said.

That is why, New Delhi had decided to continue with the composite dialogue with Pakistan over the next few weeks, beginning with talks on the Tulbul navigation project and on Cultural issues in June, on terrorism in July and promoting economic cooperation in August.

However, the sources felt that the Pakistani army continued to play a key role in politics, despite the popular upsurge against Musharraf’s sacking of the former chief justice Iftekhar Cahudhury. Under the circumstances, the power balance was not going to undergo such a dramatic change as was being anticipated.

On Bangladesh, the establishment sources felt that things were moving in the right direction, with Sheikh Hasina returning home and the army-backed regime cleaning up corrupted political institutions.

``For us it’s a sign of hope,’’ the sources said, pointing out that whenever normal political processes have functioned in Bangladesh, they have worked in India’s favour. In fact, extremists and terrorists had always taken advantage of ``closed’’ political processes.

The sources said that Bangladesh’s incredible political activism was commendable, and in fact Bangladeshi polity, despite having been under martial rule, was quite different from that in Pakistan.

ENDS