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| Modi finally asks Sushma to handle Pak | | |
Early Times Report
JAMMU, Aug 22: The under-severe criticism and roundly-attacked Narendra Modi Government on Friday adopted the virtually marginalized External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's line on talks with rogue Pakistan. It said no to talks with Pakistan National Security advisor (NSA) Sartaj Aziz if Pakistan insisted on talks with Kashmiri separatists before the scheduled meeting between Aziz and Indian NSA Ajit Doval. In fact, it was the Ministry of External affairs (MEA) which took the charge to show belligerent and aggressive Pakistan its rightful place. Its spokesperson Vikas Swarup charged Pakistan with going against the spirit and intent of July 10 Ufa agreement, reached between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan Premier Mian Nawaz Sharif.
Drawing a redline, the MEA made it abundantly clear to Pakistan that a meeting between the separatists and Pakistan's NSA Sartaj Aziz, who is scheduled to arrive in Delhi on Sunday for the talks with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval, was unacceptable. It hit back accusing Pakistan of trying to evade its commitment to engage in a substantive discussion on terrorism as had been agreed between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Ufa (Russia) and said that Islamabad's insistence on meeting Hurriyat leaders as a pre-condition was a "complete departure from the Ufa understanding". India has always held the position that there are only two, not three, stakeholders in the bilateral relationship, it further said, and very rightly. It virtually closed the doors for dialogue saying "unilateral imposition of new conditions and distortion of the agreed agenda cannot be the basis for going forward". Choose India or Hurriyat was the message given to Pakistan
Earlier, Pakistan, which had taken the Modi Government for a ride believing that it would be able to coerce India and make it fall in line, had said that it would not depart from what it called the "established past practice" of interacting with separatist Hurriyat leaders. In other words, it had rejected India's advice not to go ahead with their meeting with Aziz.
The Indian Foreign Office not only showed Pakistan place it deserved by rejecting its insistence on a meeting with Hurriyat leaders, but also accused Pakistan of intensifying subversive activities from across the international border, Line of Control and deep inside the Indian territories. "India saw a sharp increase in the unprovoked firings from the Pakistani side and some serious cross border terrorist incidents. The last one, at Udhampur, resulted in the capture alive of a Pakistani national, a matter that would have naturally come up in the NSA level talks on terrorism, to Pakistan's discomfort," it said, adding that "Ufa understanding on the talks - read out jointly by the two Foreign Secretaries - was very clear: the NSAs were to meet to discuss all issues connected to terrorism" and that "this was the only agenda set for them by the two Prime Ministers".
There was no ambiguity whatsoever in what the IFO said. It conducted itself in the manner it should have been taking into consideration the national sentiment. And what the IFO said was also befitting response to those in Kashmir and perverted elements in the BJP who wanted New Delhi to facilitate NSA-level talks at whatever cost. The fact that the IFO declared in unequivocal terms that there was no third stakeholder in Jammu & Kashmir was a well-considered response to those in Kashmir and Pakistan who wanted India to make the Kashmir issue a trilateral one between India, Pakistan and Pakistani agents, called Hurriyat leaders. However, it would have been better had the IFO also said that there was only one stakeholder in Jammu & Kashmir and that was India, as the entire Jammu & Kashmir State as it existed on August 15, 1947 was politically, culturally, civilizationally and constitutionally an integral part of India. After all, Jammu & Kashmir became an integral part of India under the same Instrument of Accession as other princely states in 1947 and it was not once but thrice in 1984 and 2013 that the Indian Parliament adopted unanimous resolutions on Jammu & Kashmir, which clearly said that the only issue that still remained unresolved between India and Pakistan was the determination of the political status of PoJK and Gilgit-Baltistan and India will make all endeavours to reintegrate those illegally occupied territories into India.
What the IFO said was appreciated by one and all in the country, barring the Pakistan and Pakistani agents in Kashmir and elsewhere. It is a positive development that the confused, ambivalent and directionless Modi Government finally toes the Sushma line. It is hoped that the Modi Government would allow Sushma Swaraj to handle Pakistan in her own way. She had on May 31, 2015, rejected policy's characterization as "on-off" or "confused" and said: "Our policy's outlining guiding principles are - First, all issues can be resolved amicably through talks. Second, talks will only be held between the two nations without any third party intervention. Third, all this can only happen in a conducive atmosphere that includes action against perpetrators of terror". And today, she herself addressed press conference to put things in perspective after Aziz addressed press conference at Islamabad to reiterate that Pakistan would raise Kashmir issue in the talks and also talk with Hurriyat leaders. Sushma made it loud and clear that India would talk only terror, terror and terror and nothing else.
However, to say all this is not to suggest that everything is fine. It is not. Take, for example, the manner in Kashmiri separatists are put under house arrest or arrested and then given full freedom to do what they want to do. The Modi Government has to take a clear stand on Hurriyat leaders as well as on the 1984 unanimous parliamentary resolution that was nothing but the national resolve to take back from Pakistan PoJK and gilgit-Baltistan, which are legitimately Indian. |
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