EXTERNAL DEBT-Partial Story

them remain the only viable course.
All the three points demand a Flexible attitude from the government on the question of national sovereignty, For, in the current international situation where every crisis anywhere lends to immediately assume a cross-border significance, and for reasons not difficult to grasp, a greater or lesser involvement of alien actors in the process of finding solutions to local problems can no longer be avoided. It is in this light that the recent statements by the US politicians and government functionaries, the advice by the Chinese leaders to both India and Pakistan to seek a negotiated settlement, and the stubborn, though provocative attitude of successive Pakistani governments on the issue have to be viewed. It is in regard to the third point mentioned above, namely, negotiations with the militants, that the government seems to be most reluctant to initiate any step. If we have to wait for that step only till the results of the current elections have been digested, then the wait is not too long. However, elections in India, in both their pres and post-phases, have the curious tendency of affecting the minds of our politicians in a manner that makes them frustratingly unpredictable.