The Hindu: Pak army helped revive talks with India

Bengal_Tiger

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Behind the scenes, Pakistan’s military helped revive talks with India
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New Pakistan National Security Adviser Naseer Khan Janjua (above) and Pakistan Army Chief General Raheel Sharif are said to be close. A senior Indian official in New Delhi also said military backing for peace talks marked a major change, with General Janjua’s involvement as Pakistan's NSA a key sign that Gen. Raheel Sharif supports resumption of the dialogue







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defence
armed Forces
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diplomacy
India-Pakistan
international relations

Naseer Khan Janjua, new Pakistan NSA, has proved to be an asset to the peace process and shares a good chemistry with Army Chief Raheel Sharif.
The quiet involvement of Pakistan's powerful military in its foreign policy this year paved the way for reviving a stalled dialogue with India, officials said, a thaw leading to the first visit to Pakistan by an Indian premier in almost 12 years.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise trip to meet Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif on Friday raised hopes that stop-and-start negotiations between the nuclear-armed neighbours might finally mean progress after more than 65 years of hostility.

Arranged between PMs

Aides say the meeting was arranged directly between the two Prime Ministers on just a few hours’ notice when Mr. Modi called to wish 66-year-old Mr. Sharif a happy birthday.

But even before Mr. Modi arrived in the eastern city of Lahore, relations between the nuclear-armed rivals had begun to thaw, with a resumption of dialogue already in the offing.

On Friday, Mr. Modi and Mr. Sharif agreed that their Foreign Secretaries would meet in mid-January to restart talks.

Renewed hope of talks

Pakistani officials say “ownership” of peace talks by the military and the appointment of a recently retired General as the National Security Adviser have given Pakistan renewed confidence to restart dialogue with India, including speaking about the thorny issue of terrorism.

“This round is different because there is backing from the top where it matters ... the Army Chief is himself on board,” a top diplomat said before the visit.

Raheel-Janjua chemistry

Army Chief Gen. Raheel Sharif is said to be close to the new National Security Adviser, recently retired General Naseer Khan Janjua, who in October replaced civilian Sartaj Aziz, an ally of the Prime Minister.

Many saw the move as strengthening the Army’s hand in talks with India, with the military remaining wary of a civilian government giving too much away.

Best man for the job

“General Janjua has immense experience in these matters. He is the best man for the job and he has already proven to be an asset to this [peace] process,” one member of Nawaz Sharif’s Cabinet said earlier in December.

“It is only an added benefit that he has a direct line to the [Army] Chief,” he added.

Major change

A senior Indian official in New Delhi also said military backing for peace talks marked a major change, with General Janjua’s involvement as NSA a key sign that Gen. Sharif supports resumption of the dialogue.

Direct contact between the two Prime Ministers is a major factor in thawing relations — they met on the sidelines of the Paris climate change summit last month. However, Pakistani officials said that true change only became possible after General Janjua’s appointment.

Earlier this month, the NSAs of both countries met in Bangkok, paving the way for Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj’s visit to Pakistan for the Heart of Asia summit where she agreed to reopen dialogue with Pakistan, thereby resuming a process broken off since 2012.

Postponed time after time

Previous attempts to resume talks have been postponed time after time, mostly due to the Indian government’s insistence that the focus of discussion must be, first and foremost, about terrorism. India accuses Pakistan-based militants for masterminding the 2008 Mumbai attacks that left 166 dead.

By contrast, Pakistan says the disputed territory of Kashmir is the paramount topic.

With a military man having a greater say in the process, there is more confidence about discussing such sensitive topics, several officials said.

Hesitation in the past

“I think in the past there was a hesitation from Pakistan, understandably, to talk about terrorism [with India] but that may have changed,” the diplomat told Reuters.

“There is better division of labour. The real decision-making is happening behind the scenes. The rest is just optics.”

American pressure

Pakistani officials and western diplomats in Islamabad said U.S. officials also worked hard to convince Gen. Sharif during his visit to Washington last month to support going back to the negotiating table.

“India came up a lot during the Army Chief’s visit to Washington, definitely with the Secretary of State [John Kerry] and also others,” a western diplomat said.

A second member of Mr. Sharif’s Cabinet said the same of Mr. Modi.

Obama prodded Modi?

“Our understanding is that when Modi was in the United States, he was encouraged very strongly by Obama to rethink his approach toward Pakistan,” the minister said.

A close aide to Mr. Modi in India said U.S. officials always push for reviving India-Pakistan talks and external pressure was not a factor.

“Modiji’s visit to Pakistan was not dictated by America but it was planned to keep the national and regional interest in mind,” the aide said.

Deep suspicion

While Pakistan’s Army may have changed its thinking on talks, even the landmark Modi visit or support from influential facilitators does not guarantee success in a fraught peace process where all sides remain deeply suspicious.

A senior security official close to the talks process was wary when responding to the Modi visit.

“It is a positive step that he came ... definitely ... but we still have to move with caution,” he said. “It’s a new Modi in an old bottle; Nawaz Sharif should take it one sip at a time.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/intern...ed-revive-talks-with-india/article8034147.ece
 

Bengal_Tiger

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This is getting very interesting now.

1. Even the article above implicitly acknowledges that the army runs Pakistan:

“This round is different because there is backing from the top where it matters ... the Army Chief is himself on board,” a top diplomat said before the visit.
i.e. top of the ruling hierarchy.


2. Does the Pakistan army want peace with India but merely struggling to find suitable terms?

If so why this change in mentality after over half a century of India-hatred, a hatred which many believe is needed by the Pakistan army to define the country and unite it against an external enemy?

How much of a part did foreign pressure play in this? It seems the Americans definitely wanted movement between India and Pakistan.

Anyway it's way too early to take this as the beginning of a groundbreaking peace initiative as Manmohan Singh, Vajpayee all tried to reach out to Pakistan in their own ways.

As a Bangladeshi if ever there was peace between India and Pakistan it would have a direct impact on us as Pakistan sponsors the BNP-Jamaat axis to rule Bangladesh in order to destabilize India and India reacts by supporting the Awami League.
 

Bengal_Tiger

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So Modi's visit to Lahore, which he must have known would have been hugely controversial amongst the Indian nationalist community, does not forebode some possible major developments on the peace front with Pakistan?

I ask rather than challenge or dispute as I'm very aware that previous Indian premiers try to work for peace with Pakistan but nothing happened.
 

guru-dutt

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So Modi's visit to Lahore, which he must have known would have been hugely controversial amongst the Indian nationalist community, does not forebode some possible major developments on the peace front with Pakistan?

I ask rather than challenge or dispute as I'm very aware that previous Indian premiers try to work for peace with Pakistan but nothing happened.
my dear banagaly bhiyya ji NaMo made the lahore trip to troll both PA & Indian media perstitutes think of it any way result will be same ... cheers mate :hippo:
 

Sword

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Hello bengal tiger, was wondering because of your name, would you know of any info on tigers and lions history in india to contribute to one of the older threads now being revived:
http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/...s-the-king-of-beast.14827/page-3#post-1115503

Some that I linked were of african lions, but I dont think it matches the theme of the initial question, which is king of beast...more so in india via indian lion. There is little written in the english literature other than stating the lion was once called, Utiah bagh (camel colored tiger), buhbar sher (greater tiger)...simha and singa (lion noted for courage and power).

Would you know of any?
 

Screambowl

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I have made around 11 post just to say this.

Any how I don't think it's the Army, but the ISI which did it.

As Modi Landed without Visa and Visa may be issued on arrivals. This is the job of ISI.
 

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