India reacted with anger to Monday’s Islamabad High Court order suspending the Pakistan government’s detention of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, Lashkar-e-Toiba’s operations commander and key accused in the 26/11 Mumbai attack case. Earlier, it had emphatically protested the December 18 anti-terrorism court’s order releasing Lakhvi.
Subsequently, Lakhvi has been detained again on Tuesday. But as the case continues to twist and turn, New Delhi must rethink the wisdom of investing it with the power and potential to derail attempts to revive engagement between the two countries. It must ask itself whether by focusing overly on the issue of Lakhvi’s bail, it may not be allowing the larger questions in the India-Pakistan bilateral relationship to be held hostage to Lakhvi’s day in court.
Of course, it is necessary for India to keep up the pressure on Islamabad to ensure that the trials of the 26/11 accused are taken to their just conclusion and due punishment is meted out. Yet, at the same time, it is imperative that talks with Islamabad be revived — on a range of contentious issues, from cross-border firing in Kashmir to trade facilitation. With one civilian government successfully transferring power to another in Pakistan last year, Delhi should not miss the opening and opportunity to jointly rework long-pending political and economic promises to mutual benefit. In the last instance, whether or not Lakhvi gets bail will depend on the judicial process in Pakistan and the prosecution’s effort and commitment in that country. But Delhi can take the initiative to break the impasse between the two countries that limits its own flexibility in dealing with Islamabad at a critical juncture.
A fortnight after the Peshawar school attack, the Lakhvi case provides yet more evidence of the persistent contradictions and deep faultlines in Pakistan. These formidable internal challenges that convulse Pakistan make it all the more necessary for India to multiply, not reduce, the points of communication and exchange between the two countries.
