Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden's death in a US raid in Pakistani city of Abbotabad has had an unlikely fallout on India, Pakistan relations. New Delhi has once again accused Islamabad of sheltering terrorists citing Osama was holed up in a compound close to a Pakistani military academy. Home Minister P Chidambaram has renewed the demand for Islamabad  to arrest persons responsible for Mumbai attacks and to provide voice samples of persons suspected of being the controllers and handlers of the attackers. Besides Osama's unexpected presence in a military garrison town is being aggressively advanced as proof of Pakistan's alleged complicity in terror by most of the national media. Islamabad, though initially apologetic and embarrassed at the turn of events has now regained some composure and taken head on the uncomfortable insinuations about its role. Pakistan  Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir has dismissed New Delhi's accusations as a familiar and outdated line. He termed it a line of thinking  mired in a mindset that is neither realistic nor productive. “It is same part of the old system repeating itself," Bashir said. Bashir's terse remarks however betray an element of distrust creeping back into the relations of the two countries. And this if not addressed quickly could severely affect the ongoing dialogue.  This calls for the top leadership of the two countries to show more maturity and ensure that the fresh engagement is not derailed. And that too at a time when Osama is a history and US looks to wind down its war in Afghanistan. This is a critical time. The cooperation between India and Pakistan is not needed only to mend their own frayed relationship but to also help stabilize Afghanistan. And this, even the US realizes, will be difficult if the two countries continue to remain at loggerheads and pursue their disparate interests in the country. There is a lot more that hinges on good Indo-Pak relations. New Delhi needs peace in its western neighborhood to continue to grow as an economic powerhouse in the world. And Pakistan would need a friendly India to ease its concerns about threat from east and recast its domestic priorities. Indo-Pak amity is also urgently required at a time when the region stands at cross-roads. A great historical shift is in the process of playing itself out which is likely to overtake the geo-political paradigm set up by the break-up of USSR. Likely US exit from Afghanistan will beset the region with great new challenges. China's relentless ascent as the new world power is likely to impact the geo-politics of the region so would India's growing role. And Pakistan as a longstanding ally  of Beijing with overriding stakes in the future dispensation of Kabul would only give a fresh lease of life to its enduring rivalry with New Delhi. Though it is still uncertain as to what long term US role would be in the region and whether it would retain enough influence to determine the course of events, it will chiefly be the regional powers that would be responsible for the regional peace. This transition as and when it happens will redraw the strategic map of the region. Are India, Pakistan ready for this change? Going by the lingering precarious state of their relationship, it seems that they are not. The ongoing mutual recriminations over the Osama death only further strengthen this cynicism. After all, the two countries continue to be estranged over the past 63 years. The relationship didn't change through cold war nor did the end of it in 1989 followed by US-led unipolar world make any difference. Will the end of US dominance and the establishment of a multi-polar world help? Hope, it does.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 4 May 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 4 May 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 5 May 2011 00:00:00 IST