So Much For Relief Diplomacy: Delhi Blasts

Ahmed Rashid has an op-ed in the UK Telegraph that I would recommend.

He says in so many words something that occurred to me in passing when I first heard about these blasts last Saturday: so much for the thaw. Things had seemed particularly warm between India and Pakistan just a couple of weeks ago, following the earthquake in Kashmir. Then this:

On Sunday, Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, had invited the media to a press conference, followed by a jovial "Iftar" dinner in the garden of his home, for the closure of the day's fast in Ramadan.

He strongly condemned "the dastardly terrorist attack" in New Delhi and offered all help from Pakistan. At the end, he casually got up, saying he was going to ring India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, to offer him Pakistan's condolences and support.

Instead of a grateful Singh on the other end of the line, the Indian prime minister dropped a bombshell, telling Musharraf that the terrorists who carried out the attacks were linked to Pakistan. In a well-orchestrated media blitz, Mr Singh's comments were on the news wires within 30 minutes, undermining Musharraf's entire press conference.

In coming days, India will clearly try to pin the terrorist attacks on Pakistan-based extremist groups. Pakistan will demand proof. India will say the evidence is secret, and so things will steadily worsen. We will be back to the days of tensions, recriminations and shelling across the Line of Control.

I can't help but think that Rashid is right. It seems hard to imagine anyone other than a Pakistan-supported terrorist cell carrying out bombings of the size and sophistication of last week's attacks in Delhi.

I might also add (with the abject failure of the relief effort in Pakistan in mind), that it seems hard to imagine anyone more incompetent at running a country than Pervez Musharraf. (I know what you're going to say, and I agree: George W. Bush is a close second)