III.

Musharraf and Terrorism

Following the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, and the buildup to the U.S. military strikes on neighboring Afghanistan, Musharraf abandoned his country’s policy of support for the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and clamped down on Islamist dissent. He became a staunch ally of the United States and American military operations against the Taliban and its al-Qaeda allies, providing military bases and support.

Despite Musharraf’s change in policy toward Islamic terrorists in Afghanistan, relations with neighboring India continued to deteriorate. Kashmīri separatists attacked the Indian parliament in December 2001, and cross-border tensions increased between the two nuclear powers, with the Indian government accusing Pakistan of assisting Islamic insurgents in Kashmīr. In May 2002 Musharraf denied that terrorist groups were crossing into Kashmīr from Pakistan and later rejected an Indian proposal for joint policing of the Kashmīr Line of Control, the de facto border between the two countries. The testing of a ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads and with a range up to 180 km (110 mi) at the end of May indicated Pakistan’s continued hard line in relations with India, although Musharraf later stated that he would do all he could to prevent infiltration across the Line of Control. The Indian government later acknowledged that there had been a fall in the number of incursions following Musharraf’s statement.

Meanwhile, the international diplomacy that resulted from the standoff between India and Pakistan began to yield results. In May 2003 India and Pakistan restored diplomatic ties. High-level contacts followed. Musharraf offered a cease-fire in Jammu and Kashmīr, and in late November Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee accepted. For the first time in 14 years, artillery fire ceased along the 1,100-km (700-mi) border.

In December 2003 Musharraf survived two attempts on his life. Pakistani authorities believed the attacks were instigated either by al-Qaeda or Islamic extremists within Pakistan or a combination of the two. An audiotape reportedly made by Ayman Muhammad Rabi’ al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s second-in-command after Osama bin Laden, called for Musharraf’s overthrow. The assassination attempts failed to halt Musharraf’s peacemaking efforts with India. In January 2004 India and Pakistan agreed to resume talks on a wide range of issues, including Kashmīr. Musharraf indicated that Pakistan could be flexible on Kashmīr, and he pledged that Pakistan would not allow any territory under its control “to be used to support terrorism in any manner.”