"We have taken note of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence by Kosovo. There are several legal issues involved in this Declaration. We are studying the evolving situation. It has been India's consistent position that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be fully respected by all states. We have believed that the Kosovo issue should have been resolved through peaceful means and through consultation and dialogue between the concerned parties."
In other words, India has nothing to say. Yet again, an important world event is unfolding before our very eyes and we do not have anything to add to the diplomatic dialogue. The urge to obfuscate, to avoid looking other nations in the eye and to act only in half measures is taking us nowhere. At present, India is negotiating a nuclear deal with the Unites States, developing missiles with Russia, building a gas pipeline from Iran, buying long range radar from Israel, sending Prime Ministers to Cuba and holding joint military exercises with China. To become a superpower, India must take part in the power game. And there is no way one can play a game without choosing sides.
This one time, however, the diplomats have a real riddle on their hands. On the international front, the situation demands that India indicate its choice between the two (still extant and recently regrouping!) power clubs led by America and Russia. At home, the Left is pressing the Indian government to do whatever irks America the most. And worst of all, we cannot help wondering whether something similar could happen in Kashmir.
And that is where it gets interesting. If India sides with most of Europe and America in recognizing Kosovo as a sovereign nation, what’s there to say that these same Western countries would not welcome the secession of Kashmir from the Indian Republic? If India joins Russia and China in decrying the obvious, free will of the people of Kosovo, isn’t it a virtual admission of our ‘guilt’ over Kashmir?
The Oracle opines that India should strive to avoid giving such impressions. There are many ways in which one might arrive at that conclusion. First, the Chinese, who haven’t taken kindly to Kosovo, will support an independent Kashmir anyway, or for that matter, anything that hurts Indian interests. Secondly, as I have said before, Kosovo could serve as a toy ground for India to try out power games; we have to start somewhere, don’t we? And finally, the risk of secession of Kashmir is minimal and India should have the confidence to make a clear distinction between Kosovo and Kashmir. For instance, while Kashmir is integral to the democratic institutions in India, Kosovo has been ruled under a separate UN mandate ever since the fall of Slobodan Milosevic.
Furthermore, since the ‘Kashmir’ refers not only to the parts held by India, but also the whole of PoK, the creation of a separate nation can only occur through agreement between the two countries. Also, unlike Kosovo, Kashmir lacks an independent legislature that could take such outrageous action: for it is clubbed with both Ladakh and Jammu.
It will soon be election time in Jammu and Kashmir. The inexorable father-son duo of Farooq and Umar Abdullah are haranguing the Kashmiri people with promises of “autonomy”. If Farooq had the force of will needed to take such a gigantic step, he would have done so on one of the myriad occasions before when India was much more vulnerable. And worst comes to worst, India has an imposing military presence in Kashmir that can deal with any eventuality.
Unfortunately, none of this will solve the very real problem of alienation in the minds of the people of Kashmir. It is very easy to talk about banal things like “building schools, colleges, hospitals, factories”. Indians, just like elsewhere in the democratic world, are addicted to a feeling of guilt and we need to dig out of it. The reason that there are no “schools, colleges or hospitals” in the first place is that A) Kashmir is located in difficult terrain that will always be one step behind in development B) The politics of the region has been dominated by fake nationalism and later been hijacked by fundamentalism. As long as the government does not give in to deliberate prejudices over developing Kashmir and deals firmly with anti-India forces, India can have a clear conscience.
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