India worried by turmoil in Pakistan

India fears that the political situation in Pakistan after suspension of Chief Justice is going out of control, reports Nilova Roy Chaudhary.

India fears the political crisis in Pakistan after the suspension of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhary is going out of control and the writ of the Pervez Musharraf regime is on a decline. And while the ability of the Pakistan government to engage with India and carry the composite dialogue process forward is not immediately affected, there is no question of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visiting Pakistan soon.

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“The situation is not good,” sources said. “The political crisis is going out of control,” and this shows the (Musharraf) regime’s “inability to maintain the delicate balance”, sources said on Tuesday.

The fractured balance has shown up even in Lahore where Chaudhary’s supporters have been shouting both anti-Musharraf and anti-Altaf Hussain (head of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement) slogans. The MQM, an ally of the Musharraf government, was at the spearhead of the violence on Saturday in Karachi against supporters of Chaudhary, mostly gleaned from the leading opposition parties.

The composite dialogue process and engagement with Pakistan would continue, with talks on Sir Creek scheduled on Thursday and Friday (May 17 and 18) in Islamabad. “India has a broader policy imperative, which cuts across regimes,” sources in the government said. It was much more important for the Indian government to deal with Pakistan as a whole and not only the regime in power, which was why it laid so much importance on the variety of 'people-to-people' initiatives.