news details |
|
|
| Nothing to emerge out of Thimpu talks | | Indo-Pak Dialogue -- III | |
STARK REALITY
RUSTAM
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Feb 8: As mentioned earlier, Nirupama Rao and Salman Bashir met for 90 minutes on the sidelines of the SAARC meeting of Foreign Secretaries. The meeting took place six months after a failed round of talks between Foreign Minister S M Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmud Qureshi in Islamabad.
Commenting on the outcome of the meeting Rao said: “India is ‘cautiously optimistic’ on charting a way forward in the dialogue process with Pakistan and would like to see the process to mature keeping in view ground realities.” She did not disclose what these “ground realities” were, but everyone who knows something about the Indo-Pak relations knows what these “ground realities” were and these were catalogued in the first part of the three-part story on Indo-Pak dialogue.
“We had a good meeting, useful meeting. We were able to discuss a number of issues of relevance with the (Indo-Pak) relationship…We talked about the (dialogue) process and charting the way forward, what the best modalities would be…All in all it was a useful meeting…Both the sides had adopted an open and constructive attitude. I’m satisfied…we need to wait and see…We have to wait for this process to mature. We should be optimistic, cautiously optimistic because there are many issues that remain to be resolved…Nature of India-Pakistan relationship had been complex…We have to remain realistic. We should be aware of the realities…(There is the) need for a vision for the future of the relationship,” she, in fact, said all this a day after her meeting with Salman Bashir. She also said, “Bashir has told her that his government also is committed to taking forward the dialogue process on outstanding issues in a constructive way.”
Almost an identical statement was made by the Indian Foreign Office spokesperson, Vishnu Prakash. "The Foreign Secretaries had useful and frank discussions...They agreed on the need for constructive dialogue between India and Pakistan to resolve all outstanding issues…They affirmed the need to carry forward the dialogue process," he told reporters.
What Rao and Prakash said only raised the hope that a meeting between the Indian Foreign Minister and his Pakistani counterpart might be possible. This should not raise any eyebrow. After all, talks between the countries do take place even when they are at war with each other. What, however, should make the Indians feel somewhat relieved was that the Indian Foreign Secretary politely told her Pakistani counterpart that there were many issues which needed to be clinched before the talks between the two Foreign Ministers took place or before the stalled composite dialogue process could be resumed. Her comment “we need to wait and see; we have to wait for this process to mature; and we should be optimistic, cautiously optimistic because there are many issues that remain to be resolved” explained everything. In other words, what she said was that nothing had come out of the parleys and that it would be too much to expect that the talks would harmonize Indo-Pak relations considering the ground realities, as they exist both in India and Pakistan. And, one of the realities is the Pakistani insistence on “right to self-determination”.
That Pakistan was not prepared to abandon its 63-year-old stand on Jammu and Kashmir once again became evident on February 7, when Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmud Qureshi gave an interview to Gulf News at Thimpu. What did he tell Gulf News? He told, “Both Islamabad and India need to have a fresh look at the Kashmir issue, and search for ways to address the longstanding demand of self-determination of its people...Kashmir is one of the core issues bedeviling progress in India-Pakistan relations. Now, a stage has come when even the Indian intelligentsia and the Indian media (read the likes of Seema Mustafa, Prem Shankar Jha, Barkha Dutt, Siddharath Vardharajan, Vinod Sharma, Kuldip Nayar, Sagrika Ghose, Amitabh Mattoo, Dipankar Bannerjee, A S Dulat, to mention only a few) are asking to revisit the Kashmir policy. It is a political problem and needs political solutions. So, I will urge my Indian counterpart -- S M Krishna -- to have a fresh look to address this problem. Other issues to be discussed are Siachen and Sir Creek…I would ask India to include Kashmiris as a third party in the dialogue over Kashmir, as a decision on Kashmir cannot be taken without their consent. I am going to suggest that they (India) need to engage with the Kashmiris in addition to Pakistan. The Kashmiris within India are very unhappy with the state of affairs. Economy and tourism in Kashmir are suffering badly due to the trouble. It is important to give them place in the parleys between both the countries as they are the third force. A solution of the Kashmir issue is not possible until Kashmiris are on board…There has hardly been any progress on Kashmir and the situation is not satisfactory at all. I do not suggest any solutions at this stage because it will pre-empt the whole thing. Let the discussions begin and let the situation evolve. Let all the three players sit together and see what is doable and what is the way forward, and chart out a solution in that direction."
What Qureshi told Gulf News should clear all the cobwebs of confusion and should further establish that nothing has emerged out of the Thimpu talks. Nor is there the possibility of anything happening on this front because no political party in India would agree to any of the demands being consistently put forth by those who matter in Pakistan. But more than that, the nation will not allow the authorities in New Delhi to yield. (Concluded
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
STOCK UPDATE |
|
|
 |
| BSE
Sensex |
 |
| NSE
Nifty |
|
|
| |
CRICKET UPDATE |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
