GENERAL Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's president, is facing mounting international pressure to fulfill his promises to stop militants from crossing into Indian-controlled Kashmir. America is adding its weight to peace-making efforts.
Viewed from Washington, Musharraf has had a good war against terrorism. His swift jettisoning of Pakistan's alliance with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and his lending of logistical support for the American war effort earned him gratitude and a respect not usually accorded military dictators. But now America seems worried that Pakistan's failure to rein in militants responsible for terrorist attacks in Indian-controlled areas in Kashmir risks sparking a regional conflagration. It is also already jeopardizing the success of the war against the Taliban and the al-Qaida terrorist network.
President Bush has said that Musharraf "must stop incursions across the line of control" that separates the Indian- and Pakistani-controlled parts of Kashmir. He is sending his secretary of defense, Donald H. Rumsfeld, to visit the leaders of both India and Pakistan. ... Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage is on his way in to refine a peace proposal, if one exists.
Most signals, it is true, have pointed to anything but peace in the past few days. On Monday, Musharraf promised for the second time since January that Pakistan would not export terrorism to India, but in a manner so belligerent that he seemed to be daring India rather than placating it. To prove the point, Pakistan test-fired three missiles. India called the speech "disappointing and dangerous." It ridiculed Pakistan's claim that it is not exporting terror. "Mere verbal denials are untenable," said India's foreign minister, Jaswant Singh, "because they run against facts on the ground."
Pakistanis insist that Musharraf is doing as India demands. It will soon be apparent, they say, that the government has blocked infiltration by anti-Indian militants across the line of control. Their activities range from targeted attacks on security forces to dreadful acts of civilian slaughter. A Pakistani newspaper reports that radio links between militants on either side of the line have been cut. General Musharraf is also said to be dismantling camps for terrorists in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. In return, he expects India's prime minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, to open talks on Kashmir. India, though angry and disbelieving, accepts this deal in principle. If Musharraf keeps his promises, said Singh, India will "reciprocate."
