TERRORIST ATTACKS ADD URGENCY TO KASHMIR CONFLICT/ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNALISTS QUESTION WAR ON TERRORISM

Date: 12-03-2001

The East-West Wire is a news service provided by the East-West Center in Honolulu.
For more information, contact Susan Kreifels at 808-944-7176 or EastWestWire@EastWestCenter.org.

For news on the Pacific Islands, see http://pidp.ewc.hawaii.edu/pireport/text.htm

New East-West Center Publications:

1. "Déjà vu all over again?" Why Dialogue Won’t Solve the Kashmir Dispute, by
Arun R. Swamy. http://www.EastWestCenter.org/stored/pdfs/api056.pdf

2. Terrorism and America: Five Asia Pacific Perspectives.
http://www.EastWestCenter.org/stored/pdfs/api056.pdf

1. TERRORIST ATTACKS ADD URGENCY TO KASHMIR CONFLICT

HONOLULU (Dec. 3) -- The U.S. war on terrorism clearly shows how the Kashmir conflict can complicate American global politics, and how important it is to stabilize the longstanding dispute, says Arun R. Swamy, a South Asia specialist at the East-West Center.

The United States faced an inherent dilemma after the Sept. 11 attacks. India has charged that militants fighting in Kashmir are not only supported by Pakistan, but are also closely tied to the Taliban and Al Qaeda, both U.S. targets in the war on terrorism. "The United States was faced with choosing whether to ignore Indian charges in order to keep Pakistan's support against the Taliban and Al Qaeda," Swamy says, "or heed Indian concerns by pressuring a reluctant Pakistan to stop supporting the militancy in Kashmir."

Since the collapse of the Taliban, the United States has been confronted by a new dilemma -- whether to rapidly abandon Pakistan in order to re-establish ties with India, the more important of the two, or act against its long-term strategic goals in order to maintain credibility.

The stakes for India and Pakistan, both nuclear-armed, are high. Each views Kashmir as the validation of its national ideology; each fears that giving it up will result in serious domestic turmoil. Moreover, each country has plausible legal arguments for its claims along with a long history of grievances.

The deep differences over Kashmir that divide the two countries have so far proven intractable, and following Sept. 11 the movement toward confrontation accelerated. While diplomatic engagement seems necessary for a resolution of this dispute, Swamy says "past results indicate that simply pressuring the two sides to talk may be disastrous."

Any effort to intervene must be undertaken with an awareness of how the conflict evolved, why it has been so difficult to resolve, and what kinds of solutions to it might realistically be pursued.

"Déjà vu all over again?" Why Dialogue Won’t Solve the Kashmir Dispute (8 pp) can be downloaded at http://www.EastWestCenter.org/stored/pdfs/api056.pdf
Arun R. Swamy can be reached at 808-944-7542 or swamya@eastwestcenter.org

2. ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNALISTS QUESTION U.S. WAR ON TERRORISM

HONOLULU (Dec. 3) -- "As global terrorism evolved into a beast out of control, America enjoyed the good life," writes Sri Lankan journalist Amantha Perera, "until the beast struck at its very heart."

Perera, with The Sunday Leader, says millions of Sri Lankans, plagued by terrorism for decades, are asking why the United States looked the other way for so long. "If the United States had led military action against global terrorism much earlier, or at least promoted a global campaign, the picture would not be this bloody all over the world."

Perera is one of five Asia-Pacific journalists featured in a new East-West Center publication, "Terrorism and America: Five Asia Pacific Perspectives." The authors shared their countries' perspectives on the Sept. 11 attacks and the U.S. war on terrorism. They were part of the Fall 2001 Jefferson Fellowship, an East-West Center media exchange program for Asia-Pacific and U.S. journalists.

Gautam Chikermane, with the Intelligent Investor in India, asks why only now did the United States declare war on terrorism -- because "the grief pours out of American eyes?" In Japan, resentment over America's increasing "unilateralism" coexists with an unprecedented willingness to send troops overseas, says Takeshi Yamashina, with The Mainichi Newspapers. Unaloto Ofa Kaukimoce with the Fiji Broadcasting Corp. notes that calls for international action are accompanied by "unease over violent retaliation." The mixed emotions described by many are dramatically evident in predominantly Muslim Indonesia where, says Harry Bhaskara of The Jakarta Post, anti-American demonstrations defied President Megawati's assurances of support for the United States.

Terrorism and America: Five Asia Pacific Perspectives (6 pp) can be downloaded at http://www.EastWestCenter.org/stored/pdfs/api055.pdf