India played down infiltration for better Indo-Pak ties

Washington, Feb 3 (PTI) In its effort to improve its
ties with Pakistan, India played down the spurt in
infiltration from the neighbouring country in 2008 -- the year
in which Pak-based terrorists carried out the Mumbai terror
attack, according to a secret US cable released by ikiLeaks. During his meeting with the visiting US Senators
Russ Feingold and Bob Casey on May 30, 2008 in New Delhi, the
then India's National Security Advisor, M K Narayanan, said
that India has down played increase in infiltration and has
not lodged a protest before the new Pakistani government as
part of its effort to improve relationship with its neighbour,
the cable said.
Narayanan noted that under (Pak) President (Pervez)
Musharraf from 2004 to 2006, the Composite Dialogue moved
forward and infiltration dropped. The political crisis in
Pakistan in 2007 stalled progress.
He said that he was "hopeful" the new leadership
would continue to see dialogue as useful, and not just as
"something that Musharraf did," the cable said.
"The recent Foreign Minister meetings in Islamabad
helped ensure that the new government would sustain the
Composite Dialogue," Narayanan recounted.
However, he regretted that infiltration and incidents
have spiked recently.
He related that the Indian government has played
them down and not lodged a formal protest, deciding instead to
treat them as a "temporary aberration".
Narayanan remembered that hostility between India and
Pakistan had dropped to such an extent that Pakistan had at
one time withdrawn some of its military from the
India-Pakistan border in order to focus on the threats along
the border with Afghanistan, but those forces have since
returned to the Indian border, the cable said.
Asked by Senator Casey how India felt about the
pacts signed between the Pakistani Army and tribal groups,
Narayanan replied that the Indian government does not consider
them conducive to peace.
Instead, he stated, "they are out-sourcing terror".
He acknowledged that the US understands this stance,
but the British seem to think that the peace deals are a good
move.
"Instead, Narayanan cautioned, the deals will allow
the tribal groups to re-energise by withdrawing the pressure
under which they might have relented," the cable said.
"Narayanan also advised the US to fight the war on
the ground and avoid an air war, which he doubted would work
against tribal groups. Senator Feingold said that he shared
Narayanan's concerns about the peace agreements," the cable
said.