New York:
In politics, timing is frequently everything. Coming over three years after 26/11, Washington's announcement of a $10 mn bounty for Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of the Mumbai terrorist attacks, has left many puzzled.
"The strangest thing is, why put a bounty on the head of an individual who is a public figure?" asks C. Christine Fair, a security expert at Georgetown University. "For example, compared to Osama Bin Laden, who had absconded and was living without the US having any knowledge of his whereabouts, Hafiz Saeed is a public figure. He regularly addresses rallies so the entire logic of issuing a bounty on the head of public figure looks odd."
The manner in which the announcement was made has also raised eyebrows. Instead of an official press conference, visiting US Under Secretary Wendy Sherman released the information during an informal interaction with Indian journalists in New Delhi on Monday. In her comments that were on record, however, Sherman echoed Islamabad's narrative that Pakistan is a victim of terror.
In one sense, the US move is a major victory for India, which considers Hafiz Saeed a terrorist and been demanding his deportation on these grounds for years. However, Indo-Pak relations have recently warmed somewhat, with both sides agreeing to normalize trade relations and the US's announcement, which highlights Pakistan's inability or unwillingness to bring the perpetrators of 26/11 to justice, could now overshadow Sunday's meeting between the Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Singh in New Delhi.
According to Tunku Varadarajan, Editor, Newsweek International this is not necessarily American diplomacy at its finest but it could be explained as part of the tensions within the US foreign policy establishment in regards to Pakistan. "The US has not always conducted its relations with Pakistan in one voice. The Pentagon thinks differently and the State department thinks differently. It may not have been a mistake but that does not mean it was well thought out either." explains Varadarajan.
The State Department has sought to quash speculation regarding ulterior motives behind the timing of the notification and claims that it was a routine matter of process. However, experts say global political considerations could be at play and the timing of the announcement might be aimed at ensuring that India supports the US over Iran, in return for conceding something India has been demanding for years.
Former CIA officer and Author of "Hollow Strength,The CIA & Iran", Art Keller points out that "India is still one of the major markets for Iran's oil. If the US and India are having some discussions the first thing you do if you want someone to come over your side of negotiations is make a concession or do something favorable and the US taking a tough stand on Lashkar e Taiba is something the Indian government will be in favor of."
As a global superpower, the US has to grapple with the challenge of balancing its interests in different theaters. It also has to suffer conspiracy theories being floated regarding anything it does. While Washington's decision to raise a bounty on Hafiz Saeed may have been a gesture of its commitment towards Indo-US counter terrorism efforts, it might inadvertently complicate a rapprochment between India and Pakistan, an outcome in which the US has a strong interest.