Hey Ram, the damn process has begun yet again. India has formally conveyed to Pakistan its desire for early resumption of a "composite dialogue." Noises have of course been made about some points such as the need for Pakistan to prevent the violation of the LoC and to rein in militant outfits. All these help to make the Indian desire for talks look like a conditional offer. To the realist the message is clear: refusing to learn from the history of 53 years, another Indian government is determined to repeat it.

Ever since Pakistan invaded Jammu & Kashmir in October 1947 and retained nearly one-third of the territory after a war with India, that country has made monkeys of us at all fora of talks. It seemed after Kargil '99 that India had finally learnt its lesson as the Vajpayee government refused to even think of talking with Pakistan. Now, we have put the Hindu pigtail between our legs and decided to wag it before an unrepentant aggressor.

rest of the article is at http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/jan/23arvind.htm

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