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| Gushed Musharraf: Muhabbat Zindabad! | | India back to negotiating table with Pakistan | | B L KAK
NEW DELHI: India's Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, and Pakistan's President, Gen. Parvez Musharraf, warmly shook hands with each other before and after the conclusion of their eagerly-awaited meeting on Saturday on the margins of the NAM summit in Havana. The Indo-Pakistan peace process is now back on track after relations betwen the two countries had gone into deep freeze following the Mumbai bomb blasts in July.
Despite the controversial decision over possible sharing of intelligence between the two countries who have a history of mistrust and animosity, Manmohan Singh and Gen. Musharraf directed their respective Foreign Secretaries to resume talks at the earliest. The Manmohan-Musharraf sideshow was an opportunity for both to talk freely.
The talks that lasted for over an hour with no aides present was enough for the two leaders to thrash out their differences even if the tension on faces of the two indicated a certain degree of unease. The meeting appeared to have gone according to plan. Even a draft joint statement was prepared the night before in anticipation. "These talks are happening in the aftermath of the Mumbai blasts. The two countries have decided to condemn terrorism in all its forms," Manmohan Singh said.
Now, the two Foreign Secretaries will meet soon to discuss the Siachen and Sir Creek disputes and confidence building measures between the two nations. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh even received a new invitation to visit Islamabad. Now, for Manmohan Singh and Gen. Musharraf, the next challenge will be to convince sections of the establishment in their countries that each party can deliver on promises, old and new. It was a historic opportunity to resolve the Kashmir issue, Gen. Musharraf said. "We must move forward to resolve all outstanding issues including the key Kashmir factor."
After the meeting, in a candid moment, the Pakistani President even decided to put his military sentiments by the side and hailed Indo-Pak relations saying Muhabbat Zindabad. For long time observers of Indo-Pak relations, this renewed dialogue is yet another initiative not only of India and Pakistan, but of the Americans who have been pushing the two sides to come to the talking table.
The fear though, still remains. For how long will the peace process remain hostage to domestic political compulsions? Ironical as it may sound, coming back to square one is now a positive signal in Indo-Pak relations. Both sides agreed to set up what they described as an anti-terrorism "mechanism" to work together on identifying and stopping terrorists. "With Pakistan, this is the first time we have done this", Shivshankar Menon, who becomes India's Foreign Secretary next month (October 1), told journalists. "This is a new step, a new way". Pakistan's agreement to set up such a joint project is what made the rest of the agreement possible, Menon said.
"We're working at eliminating the trust deficit", Menon said. The proposed mechanism may serve as the chief justification for India going back to the negotiating table with Pakistan. But the effectiveness of such a mechanism will remain in question in view of the Musharraf regime's track record as well as the disconnect between the two sides on what constitutes terrorism.
Come November, a joint survey of Sir Creek and adjoining areas will commence. Both Manmohan Singh and Gen. Musharraf also agreed to commission experts from India and Pakistan to work on finding a solution to the Siachen dispute. The two leaders also decided to put in place steps to facilitate the implementation of agreements and understandings on Line of Control (LoC)-related confidence-building measures, including bus services, truck services and crossing points.
There are more than a dozen militant groups fighting to make Kashmir independent from Hindu-majority India or merge with Muslim-dominated Pakistan, an insurgency that has claimed about 65,000 lives. New Delhi blames Pakistan's support of the militants for stalling the peace process between the nuclear-armed neighbors, which have fought three wars since gaining independence from Britain in 1947, two over the Himalayan region of Kashmir. Pakistan's government denies training and funding the Islamic militants, and said it had nothing to do with the train bombings, but it has acknowledged offering the rebels moral and political support.
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