The US Secretary of State Colin Powell’s optimism that India and Pakistan would resume dialogue in the New Year was marred by President Musharraf’s revelation that “he’d been prepared to use atomic weapons if India had invaded Pakistan earlier this year,” when the tension in the Indian subcontinent had peaked during the middle of 2002. Such an assertion only reiterates Pakistan’s resolute unwillingness to succumb to international pressure when it comes to dealing with India. A volatile South Asia seems to be in the interest of Islamabad. Its oft-repeated statement of going to war with India is an effective bargaining chip for sustaining pressure on India with respect to Kashmir and attempting to garner international support on the issue.

Does President Musharraf’s statement invalidate the role played by the US in diffusing the crisis in the sub-continent last year? Many analysts feel that he was effectively shown both the carrot and stick by Washington after 9/11. In the present context, however, it is difficult to buy the argument. The Pakistani President is turning out to be a pretty tough nut to crack. He is in full control of Pakistan’s “strategic assets” and doesn’t hesitate to threaten to “nuke India” in the event of the latter violating the “line of control or the international border.”

Note that President Musharraf’s admission comes in the wake of the North Korean crisis. This timing is too significant to be dismissed as mere coincidence. Despite figuring prominently in Washington’s “axis of evil,” the US hasn’t been successful in taming North Korea. On the contrary, North Korea has dared to threaten to quit the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) after violating the same. The US has only been a silent spectator to its nuclear brinkmanship. The observed “helplessness” of the US has probably encouraged Pakistan to ignore Washington instead of toeing its line. The clandestine nexus between Islamabad and Pyongyang in the development of uranium-based nuclear weapons by the latter could not have remained outside the knowledge of the White House. But the issue was conveniently overlooked by the US due to the then strategic compulsions of the Cold War.

Colin Powell’s assertion that "I have made it clear to him (Musharraf) that any sort of contact between Pakistan and North Korea we believe would be improper, inappropriate and would have consequences," comes much late, when the damage has already been done. On the other hand, President Musharraf seems completely indifferent to the possible setback in US-Pakistan ties that may arise from its nuclear collusion with North Korea, despite the legal possibility of the US administration cutting back on most assistance programs under the circumstances.

The post-9/11 fear that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons would be usurped by fundamentalists led the US to “engage” President Musharraf. But recent developments indicate that the nuclear weapons are far from safe even in the General’s custody. It is evident that President Musharraf has seen through the US strategy. Pakistan has realized that the US is maintaining double standards in its “war against terrorism” and is conscious of the fact that whosoever fits into the strategic calculations of Washington would be “engaged” effectively by it. As a result, far from reviving democracy, as promised earlier by President Musharraf, he is strengthening and consolidating military rule in the country, with the US, like on most other occasions, remaining only a mute spectator.

Despite Moscow, Iran, Britain, and practically the entire international community urging Islamabad to stop cross-border terrorism, Pakistan refrains from doing so, as was evident from the terrorist strikes in Jammu last November. Consequently, little progress has been achieved in initiating dialogue between India and Pakistan. The Indian Home Minister’s assertion that “we will not talk to Pakistan till they dismantle their terrorist infrastructure and stop cross-border terrorism” remains pertinent in the current scenario.

The Pakistan President’s dictum to use nuclear weapons against India underlines the threats hovering over the subcontinent and the failure of US efforts in containing Islamabad for a safe, secure and peaceful international order. Unless Pakistan realizes the futility of nuclear weapons in resolving the mutually outstanding issues, international pressure, however heavy, would remain ineffective in creating conducive conditions for dialogue.