The bad news is that we are fighting the Pakistanis, the good news is that they don’t care about India anymore. I think India can do a lot to normalize Pakistan. But a failed Pakistan which breaks up would leave huge migration out of the country and loose nukes on the world market.
And yet it was the Americans in the 1980s who funded Zia ul-Haq…
Yes, we should have pressed Zia more, we should have pressed Musharraf much earlier, in fact we didn’t press him at all about reforming Pakistan. I think our neglect and India’s coolness made it easier for these forces to gain power and control Pakistan.
Much more mistrust now?
When we did have influence we failed to use it, in terms of cutting off economic assistance. The new administration, whether Obama or McCain, will have a new set of rules to go by and our aid to Pakistan will be highly conditional. We will not provide military assistance to Pakistan except to fight terrorists and we will not provide economic assistance under strict conditionalities to be delivered to the people of Pakistan. It may be too late for that to work, that is my concern.
Indo-US relationship, on the one hand, and the US-Pakistan relationship, on the other. How would you compare them?
I would say they’re separate but not equal. That is, we have vital interests with Pakistan, in terms of Afghanistan. We’re disappointed with Pakistan allowing the Taliban to operate in Afghanistan.
In the case of India, it is seen as a rising major power, a potential rival to China although I wouldn’t push that too soon. Also, a great overlap of interest in democracy, human rights and so on.
We each have our failings but essentially we’re both democracies, that has always been a factor and always will be.
To view a video of this interview, as well as the earlier four in the Power Point series, go to www.livemint.com/powerpoint