Pakistan’s envoy to India has been candid enough to state publicly that his country is in no mood to address India’s concerns over the 26/11 terror mastermind Hafiz Saeed. By its very definition, diplomacy is the art of telling things in such a way that they appear to be the truth. But, in this instance at least, Pakistan’s plenipotentiary seems to have said in unequivocal terms that the neighbours are not on the same page when it comes to Hafiz Saeed of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa.
Abdul Basit’s words might just be the trigger for India to stop harping on the terror plotter as the bogeyman every time something goes wrong in the already strained ties between the prickly neighbours. A $10 million reward on Saeed’s head has been announced by the US and India would have to be content to be a diplomatic spectator to what Washington chooses to do. It would be practical on the part of India to look to securing its safety and interests rather than bring up Dawood Ibrahim or Hafiz Saeed ad nauseam.
Pakistan’s duality as a victim of terror and a state that sponsors terror through ISI is recorded in history. Its support for Saeed must be put down to its inability to stop flirting with danger. Credible intelligence inputs on Saeed’s plans for the Kashmir Valley means India is never far from danger either. India can never let its guard down, regardless of what happens to people like Dawood and Saeed.
