Knee-jerk reaction

ANY untoward incident in India, and Pakistan should be ready to get the blame. By extension, a violent reaction from the oppressed people in Indian-held Kashmir or bomb blasts around its embassies abroad, would have the same consequences. And as a means of asserting its hegemonic ambitions that do not any way resonate with Islamabad, it would not proffer evidence in support, but would like the accusations to be accepted without demur. It was a foregone conclusion, therefore, that fingers would be pointed at Pakistan for the recent suicide attack in front of the Indian Embassy at Kabul. Speaking to the reporters after initiating the fifth round of composite dialogue at New Delhi on Monday, Indian External Affairs Secretary Shivshankar Menon mouthed the allegation, saying that the peace process was, as a result of the bombing incident, "under stress" and would "certainly affect our relations with Pakistan". Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir, in a separate press conference, rejected the charge and made a most pertinent point, "if they share this intelligence, we will allay any misgiving they have, but it is wrong to point fingers without evidence." Impartial observers would endorse his view that the blame game that had been played in the Subcontinent for so long has gotten the two countries nowhere. For the peace process to reach its rightful conclusion, the two sides would need to work with the required earnestness rather than indulge in mudslinging.