Independent probe advised in Indian embassy bombing

In the wake of last week’s report by the New York Times on the possible involvement of Pakistan’s intelligence agency in the July 7 bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul, an investigation under the auspices of the United Nations is the only option — given that the two nuclear powers are long-standing enemies.

While Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s promise to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to delve into the accusations against the Inter-Services Intelligence agency is not to be dismissed off-hand, trust between the people of the two countries is in short supply. That’s because of the religious strife rooted in India’s being predominantly Hindu and Pakistan, Muslim.

The presence of nuclear weapons in the subcontinent makes the situation all the more dangerous.

The bombing of the Indian embassy in Afghanistan which killed 60 could easily ignite a war. Indeed, the Indian government has regularly blamed Pakistan for bombings and shootings that have plagued India in recent years.

India also has accused Pakistan of violating a cease-fire accord along the boundary that divides Kashmir between them. Indian and Pakistani forces traded gunfire last week along the heavily fortified frontier. Soldiers fired on each other for more than 12 hours between Monday night and Tuesday morning, the worst violation of a 2003 cease-fire agreement between the neighbors.

In Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai has accused Pakistan’s intelligence service of supporting Taliban-led insurgents who are destabilizing his country.

Osama bin Laden

Pakistan has denied the charge, but the intelligence agency’s commitment to going after the Taliban fighters and al-Qaida operatives, including the world’s leading terrorist Osama bin Laden, holed up in the tribal regions on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border has long been in doubt.

Before she was assassinated, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was on the verge of winning another term as the country’s leader, warned that high-ranking intelligence officers were in bed with Islamic extremists and did not want to see her returned to office. She also warned of growing support in parts of the country, especially in the north, for a central government that follows Sharia, or Islamic law.

Against that backdrop, an investigation conducted by the new government of Prime Minister Gilani would not be seen as credible in India or around the world.

Gilani would be putting his life in jeopardy if he were viewed as a threat to the intelligence agency. He undoubtedly is aware of the three assassination attempts on the life of his predecessor, President Pervez Musharraf.

An investigation of the Indian embassy bombing by a United Nations panel would give Gilani a way out and would reassure Indians that there won’t be a cover-up.

Such a move would also spare the Bush administration from having to prop up Pakistan in the midst of possible criticism. Last week, the White House reaffirmed its strong support for the country that President Bush has said is in the forefront of his war on global terrorism.

Bush, who was a close ally of former President Musharraf, voiced similar support for Gilani during their meeting in Washington.

There should be no mistaking the seriousness of the situation. India and Pakistan have fought three wars and another could just be a misspoken word away.