There is considerable confusion in the Indian government on the Kashmir issue with the prime minister and the minister of external affairs pulling in different directions. U.N. secretary-general Ghali had offered his mediation in respect of the Kashmir issue between India and Pakistan after he had received a hint from external affairs minister Dinesh Singh at a meeting with him that India would not be averse to Ghali calling a meeting of the two countries after the establishment of an elected government in Pakistan. At the Dinesh Ghali meeting of New York, officials of the Indian government were also present. But Prime Minister Rao promptly wrote to Ghali turning down his offer of mediation and instead stressing 2 resolutions in accordance with the Shimla agreements, Rao called back Singh and the Indian media talked of embarrassment caused to the government by the minister’s “offer” to Ghali.
Observers feel that India went back on the U.N. role on the. Kashmir issue because it could have led to the world organization’s eventual intervention in the valley because India does not have a solution to the tangle except to keep the region with force. Minister Dinesh Singh had earlier failed to meet U.S. secretary of state Warren Christopher along with other SAARC foreign ministers in New York. He later tried to meet the secretary alone but the latter refused to meet him. Also, Dinesh Singh had earlier made an offer of an Oslo type meeting on the Kashmir issue. Both these incidents were interpreted in Delhi as the minister’s faux pas on the Kashmir issue. New Delhi’s uneasiness on the issue shows it is mortally afraid of the internationalization of the Kashmir issue.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 15, 1993
