Bully next door
Qureshi, Kasuri not on same page
Once again, India has deemed it appropriate to talk to Pakistan. This time it has
suggested open-ended talks focusing on terrorism and security-related issues,
instead of the broader composite dialogue that it called off in the aftermath of
Mumbai attacks in 2008.
Considering India’s track record on talks with Pakistan, the present initiative comes
across as yet another excuse to put the burning issues souring Pak-India relations
on the backburner. So as India joins the American ‘do more’ mantra on terrorism,
and refuses to talk about anything else until it is satisfied on that count, we are
expected not to bring to the discussion bilateral issues that are of grave concern to
the state and people of Pakistan.
To the longstanding issue of Kashmir have been added increasing violations of the
Indus Water Treaty and evidence of Indian involvement in the unrest in FATA and
Balochistan, but our neighbour thinks that these issues can wait until we have
conclusively put the genie of terrorist groups back in the bottle and it has been
certified by India. Should Pakistan allow itself to be bullied into this recent trap of
talks? Or are there other options?
It is interesting that news of these new talks came as Pakistan observed a national
holiday in solidarity with the Kashmiri people. For decades, Pakistan had refused to
hold talks with India on other matters until the core issue of Kashmir, at the heart of
Pak-India discord, was addressed and resolved. At the summit that marked
Vajpayee’s US-sponsored bus diplomacy in 1999, the then Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif agreed to initiate Confidence Building Measures like people-to-people
contact and trade in order to create a conducive environment for resolution of bigger
disputes. The composite dialogue initiated by Musharraf and Vajpayee in 2004 was
also a watering down of Pakistan’s Kashmir-first policy. The idea vociferously
pushed by India was to tackle the whole spectrum of bilateral issues so that
normalisation of relations between the two countries is not held hostage by the
difficulty of making progress on the disputed territory. It was hoped that as progress
is made on lesser disputes, it would give impetus for progress on Kashmir.Unfortunately, that has not been the case.
As we saw trade volume and frequency of buses increasing between the two
countries, there was little progress on the ground as far as Kashmir is concerned.
After agreeing to certain steps in the composite dialogue, India has found it
convenient to go back on its pledges and continue its policy of state-repression in the
disputed state on one pretext or the other. Under Musharraf, Pakistan toned down
its principled stand demanding self-determination for Kashmiris in a plebiscite
conducted by the UN and took steps to rein in the militant groups from Pakistan. But
these conciliatory measures were not reciprocated by India that has dragged its feet
on cutting down the number of its troops deployed there and creating a mechanism
for including the Kashmiri leadership in the bilateral talks, to search for a viable
solution to the issue. Even on other important issues within the ambit of the
composite dialogue like Siachin and Sir Creek, the Indian strategy has been to keep
the talks in a limbo, opening up settled points anew and frustrating any hope for a
meaningful outcome. And now it would like to put aside any progress that might have
been made in the composite dialogue despite these difficulties and start a brand new
round of open-ended talks, whatever that is supposed to mean.
Obviously, India has used the composite dialogue to show to the world that it is a
reasonable and responsible state without making a sincere effort at finding mutually
acceptable solutions to its bilateral disputes with Pakistan. It has actually pushed for
its ‘wish list’ vis-à-vis Pak-India relations without paying any attention to Pakistan’s
concerns. In fact, under the cover of normalisation of relations, it has gone on to
take steps to squeeze Pakistan further. Instead of making any effort to allay the
fears of Pakistan regarding the building of dams on river Jehlum, it has announced
projects on the Chenab as well, creating strong doubts about its sincerity to the
Indus Water Treaty.
Evidence that its numerous consulates on the Pak-Afghan border are supporting
disturbances in FATA and Balochistan, has also come forth. The present initiative is
seen as an attempt by India to ease the pressure of the international community for
resumption of talks with Pakistan, rather than a sincere desire on its part at finding
solutions to serious problems between the two countries. This calls for a more
diplomatically suave response from Pakistan than rushing into the proposed talks.
Surely, friendship with India should amount to more than watching Indian movies in
Pakistani cinemas, playing cricket matches and eating their onions.
Even if India agrees to Pakistan’s demand of resumption of the composite dialogue
rather than the proposed open-ended talks focusing on terrorism, not much can be
expected from it in the present context. It is clear that the Indian government has
one thing on its mind right now; a crackdown on Lashkar-i-Taiba and
Jaish-i-Muhammad, militant outfits that it says are being nurtured by Pakistan to
target India. It has shown an aversion to talk about its involvement in FATA and
Balochistan, about its controversial dams or progress on Kashmir. Obviously,
dialogue is only meaningful if it is a two-way street. Besides, the issue of militant
groups blamed by India is a part of the much bigger problem of terrorism that
Pakistan is confronted with. It is also clear that these militants are strengthened by
what India does in Kashmir, and a just solution to the dispute acceptable to the
Kashmiri people will take the winds out of their sail.
Two well-meaning neighbours can sit down and find a solution to their problems
through talks. At the same time, there is no point in talking to a bully bent upon
undermining its perceived victim and getting its way, all the way.
Rather than being too obsessed with normalising its relations with India according to
the American script, Pakistan would do well by strengthening ties with its other
neighbours. In time, this might be the best course for improving relations with the
bully next door.
The writer is a freelance columnist.
Qureshi, Kasuri not on same page
ISLAMABAD – Who is at fault, the incumbent Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi or the former one Khurshid Kasuri? TheNation was confused on Monday after the two top guns issued two contradicting statements regarding developments on the Kashmir issue between the two neighbours, Pakistan and India.
Foreign Minister Qureshi had denied of any progress made on the Kashmir issue during the past several years. While former Foreign Minister Kasuri strongly reacted to Qureshi’s statement on Monday and claimed that a remarkable development was made on this burning issue.
Talking to TheNation from London on Monday, Khurshid Kasuri, a key member of Musharraf-led government, confirmed that India and Pakistan had almost reached a settlement over the Kashmir issue after a series of back-channel talks during the Musharraf-led government.
“President Asif Zardari, according to my knowledge, was aware of the details of the back-channel diplomacy and the Presidency has the related record of the details regarding talks on the Kashmir issue,” he confirmed.
“It might be a total disconnection between the Presidency and the Foreign Office over the issue. How is this possible that a Foreign Minister of Pakistan is not in knowledge of this issue of much importance between India and Pakistan?” Kasuri wondered.
“If the Presidency has the record, normally the Foreign Office should have an access to it if it is related to the foreign policy of Pakistan. Moreover, it would be fair assumption that the Presidency would share the details with the Foreign Minister,” he added.
This correspondent couldn’t contact Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi despite repeated attempts for getting his remarks on this issue. Even a text message was dropped at his cell phone requesting to call back, however, the Minister did not bother to answer till filing of this report.
It is pertinent to mention here that both India and Pakistan are expected to resume talks this month with special focus on the issues of Kashmir and terrorism.