Did President
Bush Play Cricket in South Asia?
By Ras H. Siddiqui
A
great deal has already been written on the visit
of President George W. Bush to South Asia (read
Afghanistan, India and Pakistan) recently. The actual
outcome may be different from published media reports
that have been circulated, but after reading them
it appears that Afghanistan received the carrot,
Pakistan the stick and India half of a desirable
nuclear cake.
President Hamid Karzai must have been happy to be
assured of continued US support for Afghanistan
and for a bigger future role for his government
in a country which has had a historic problem accepting
any type of rule. Karzai’s writ will (God
willing!) one day reach beyond the city of Kabul
without the presence of a few thousand US troops.
That the Afghans deserve as much assistance as possible
is not going to find many doubters. The sacrifices
that these people have made to end the Cold War
in America’s favor (with Pakistani assistance)
cannot be easily overlooked. It was the lack of
control on American and Pakistani proxies in the
lawless landscape left behind by the former Soviet
Union that drove policy planners to seek extreme
solutions like their initial support for the Taliban.
Pipeline politics also played a key role in this
quick-fix seeking world after some of our former
radical Islamist friends celebrated freedom and
victory by demolishing a great deal of what was
left of a once beautiful Kabul. Afghanistan it seems
is back to square one again but this time wisdom
has prevailed in Washington. The bitter lesson that
the world has learned through 9/11 is that declaring
victory and leaving the scene was never a good option.
Next, President Bush visited India and made history.
Not only did he appear to be following up on the
opening made by President Bill Clinton in the year
2000, but this was possibly the first such warm
and friendly visit by a Republican US President
to Delhi since the new India gained independence.
Support for India now appears to be bipartisan in
Washington. And why should it not be? Trade between
the United States and India has been steadily rising
(although not anywhere nears the Chinese level yet).
India has played its cards wisely by remaining Non-Aligned
or sympathizing with the Soviets in a number of
instances during the Cold War. But with its democratic
tradition (sans Kashmir), secular image and now
as a team player in the global economy, India has
made a place for itself on the world map as a force
to be reckoned with. And on Kashmir it has landed
on the correct side of the current international
momentum as a victim of terrorist violence.
President Bush spent several days in India as a
leader of a country which would like to do more
business with an emerging power and to share a bright
economic future with it. Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh himself received him on his arrival at the
airport and the media in both countries could do
little except highlight the positive nature of this
relationship. In actuality, in spite of the Nixon
years, India has been groomed as the democratic
(and military?) counterweight to Communist China
since 1962 after a war in Aksai Chin during which
India lost a substantial part of what it thought
was its Kashmiri territory. That was the first time
that the Kashmir dispute helped India (as it became
a victim of Communist aggression). Now it appears
to be helping it for the second time as it finds
itself on the same side as America in the new cold
war against radical Islam. And that brings us to
the final leg of this visit.
President Bush visited Pakistan under the cover
of darkness and secrecy. Although he stayed longer
than President Clinton in 2000 and received a full
“progress report” on what often appears
to be an ally on probation, he did not mince many
words in projecting his desire to see more done
by General Musharraf against terrorist groups that
are creating nuisance worldwide. And nowhere did
he mention America’s own past role in the
creation of these groups. And he did not dispute
the fact the United States now views its relationship
with India and Pakistan differently and that it
was not going to be mediating on Kashmir between
the two. But as a saving grace (for Pakistanis)
he did get a chance to play the game of cricket
during his stay and in the process learned what
a “googly” was.
In cricket, a googly is a deceptive ball bowled
or “pitched” (for American readers here)
in a way that a batsman will expect it to spin in
a certain direction but it does just the opposite
after it hits the ground. Some, who are somewhat
familiar with the game will describe it as a ball
pitched as a leg break but one that turns into an
off break due to a last minute finger and wrist
maneuver by an experienced bowler or pitcher.
The media worldwide showed President Bush batting
to this deceptive ball. What it may have overlooked
is the googlies that he delivered to South Asian
leaders during this visit.
If one leaves out Afghanistan for a moment (a country
not known for playing cricket), both India and Pakistan
received a mixed message during this visit. Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh of India was happy to talk
trade and be recognized as a “Half-Nuclear
power when he expects to be a full member of the
club. And General Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan ended
up receiving a message on his “Half-Democracy”
when he thought that he was well on his way to full
democracy. Either way googlies were pitched during
the Bush visit to both these countries. The only
question now is which way this ball will turn once
it hits the ground?
One is sure that Iran will be closely watching the
new Indian nuclear status. And Pakistani democratic
opposition leaders in exile, Benazir Bhutto and
Nawaz Sharif, will both be studying events that
may lead to their inclusion or exclusion from possible
elections next year in Pakistan.
In either case both Indian and Pakistani leaders
need to revisit their expectations after this Bush
visit. And maybe it would be better to hold off
on predictions until the Bush-American ball that
has been pitched actually hits the ground? “Howzzat?”
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