Mullen: Shuttle diplomacy

New Delhi, Dec. 3: The hyphen is back in the US’s view of South Asia, with the rhetoric of conflict taking over India-Pakistan relations in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks.

Secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff Admiral Mike Mullen will be criss-crossing each other between New Delhi and Islamabad tomorrow in Washington’s latest round of trouble-shooting shuttle diplomacy.

“The chairman intends to meet civilian and military leaders of both nations (India and Pakistan) to encourage a co-operative approach to regional security concerns in the wake of the Mumbai attacks,” a spokesperson for Admiral Mullen has said.

The hyphenation threatens to turn the clock back seven years. With the 123 Agreement and the civilian nuclear deal under Manmohan Singh, India was upbeat about taking the global high table. But just as in 2001-2002 after India and Pakistan mobilised troops, US officials have begun shuttling between the capitals this time, with tensions between the two countries rising.

Rice is pushing George W. Bush’s agenda, telling Indian officials that the US will tell Pakistan to act transparently against terror, even though Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has struck down India’s demand for 20 fugitives.

Admiral Mullen, America’s senior-most military officer who met Pakistan’s army chief and leaders in Islamabad today, is slated to meet Indian naval chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta tomorrow.

The Pakistan army chief had threatened to pull out troops from the Afghan frontier and deploy them against India.

According to Reuters, Mullen urged Islamabad to broaden its campaign against jihadi groups and to “investigate aggressively any and all possible ties to groups in Pakistan”. He also asked Pakistan to “take more and more concerted action against militant extremists elsewhere in the country”.

In Delhi, Mullen will meet Indian military leaders after defence minister A.K. Antony today took “a review of the security situation and the state of preparedness to face any terrorist threats”, as an official statement put it.

The defence minister “has called for greater co-ordination among all agencies — both defence and internal security — in such a way that intelligence inputs available become actionable”.

The official statement noted: “Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is known to be an important area for recruitment and training of terrorists.”

The defence minister routinely meets the service chiefs on Thursdays. Today’s meeting was called to review the situation after the terror attacks.

AIR ALERT

Defence minister A.K.Antony has told the armed forces to be on alert for possible terror strikes from airborne platforms similar to the September 11 attacks in the US. A statement after a security meeting in Delhi said Antony reviewed “the preparedness against any possible terror threats from air”. Defence sources said the coast guard was being asked to buy fast interceptor boats off the shelf to acquire “offensive capabilities.”