SPECIAL ARTICLE

New Delhi, 22 May 2008

Indo-Pak Talks

SANS KEY BREAKTHROUGH

By Dr. Monika Chansoria

(School of International Studies, JNU)

India’s External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee concluded his two-day official visit to Pakistan aimed at reviewing the composite dialogue process on May 21, 2008. The visit ended with both sides signing a pact granting consular access to nationals of their respective country imprisoned by the other.

Nevertheless, a substantial breakthrough failed to come about. Worse, Pakistan overlapped the visit of the Indian External Affairs Minister by signing a peace deal with the Taliban militants in Swat in the disturbed North-West Frontier Province, much to New Delhi’s discontent. 

In a joint statement issued at the end of the talks, the two sides agreed to safeguard the ceasefire on the Line of Control (LoC) as well as confront terrorism. Besides, the two countries committed to seeking ‘an early amicable solution’ on Siachen and noted progress on resolving the Sir Creek dispute. Mukherjee held that in his discussions with Pakistan’s leadership he “found a strong willingness and desire on the Pakistan side to move ahead toward full normalization of our relationship.”

The visit by the Foreign Minister was undertaken to assess the composite dialogue process that was initiated in 2004 amidst much hope and optimism. These talks grabbed considerable attention owing to the fact that they took place following a six-month impasse and expectedly were clouded by issues such as the recent serial bomb blasts in Jaipur leaving scores of people dead and wounded while transforming the city into scenes of carnage.

In addition, New Delhi also raised concerns vis-à-vis the recent incidents of firing on its soldiers from across the LoC. Apparently there have been three such incidents since May this year, with an Indian soldier being killed in trans-LoC firing. Furthermore, India’s Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon said after talks with his Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir, “Both sides made it clear that they attach great importance to the ceasefire and they want to make it hold.”

Consequently, Mukherjee held talks with his counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi where they expectedly discussed various issues including terrorism, exchange of prisoners, bilateral trade, confidence building measures and Kashmir. He also met Pakistan People’s Party leader Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan Muslim League (N) leader Nawaz Sharif and Awami National Party leader Asfandyar Wali Khan.

Crucially, Mukherjee’s visit was of particular significance in another aspect since it was India’s first high-level contact with the freshly elected Government in Islamabad and the Indian Foreign Minister expressed confidence that the “new democratic environment” would help in addressing a range of issues related to peace, stability and economic development.

However, this sanguinity could well be short-lived given the ongoing political turmoil, as the new governing coalition in Islamabad appears to be inching towards dissolution. As a matter of fact, this fragility is touted to cast its shadow on the future of Indo-Pak talks.

In addition, Pranab Mukherjee held a crucial meeting with President Pervez Musharraf where the Pakistani President stated that Islamabad was committed to the peace process with India and wanted to resolve all outstanding issues between the two countries, including Kashmir, through dialogue. Moreover, in a direct message, Musharraf told Mukherjee that the wishes of the Kashmiri people could not be ignored while seeking a solution to the Kashmir issue.

Reacting to Musharraf’s statements, the visiting Foreign Minister said New Delhi too was committed to dialogue and wanted to see “substantial progress on all outstanding issues provided that the atmosphere of talks is free from terrorism, violence and the threat of it.”

On the other hand, militant leaders in Pakistan issued a staid warning to the Pakistani leadership ahead of Mukherjee’s visit telling Islamabad “not to retreat on the Kashmir issue.” This admonition came from the Hizbul Mujahideen Chief Syed Salahuddin who issued a statement that “the people of Kashmir had no hope in the talks and there would be no progress with India unless Kashmir was resolved.”

A sense emerges that this visit had several prospective expectations including the will of both nations to sustain the turtle-paced dialogue process, in which they might just have met with some success, however, yet another failure to make progress on the foremost dispute, Kashmir remained in the spotlight.

It is suffice to say that verbal affirmations by Pakistan’s leadership towards their commitment to peace by means of the ongoing dialogue process are purely not sufficient and ought to be coupled with firm actions on the ground so as to substantiate their words. Adding to India’s woes, the political volatility in Islamabad’s newly elected Government might just end up pounding the already sluggish dialogue process that started four years ago. --- INFA

 (Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)