Pakistan and India wrapped up on Friday their two-day foreign secretary-level talks without any breakthrough on the Kashmir issue, with New Delhi telling its similarly nuclear-armed neighbour that the resolution of the Kashmir issue could not take place under the “shadow of the gun”. The archrivals, however, agreed to explore additional Kashmir-specific confidence-building measures and combat terrorism together.
Addressing a joint press conference at the end of the talks with her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir, Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao made a pointed reference to the need to do away with the “shadow of the gun and extremist violence” while dealing with the “complex issue” of Jammu and Kashmir, as “issues can be resolved in an atmosphere free of terror”. Bashir said both sides had a deep conversation on the Kashmir issue and made their “well-known” positions on the Kashmir issue, but they agreed to continue discussions to find common ground.
“It does not mean that anybody has changed their position, we have tried to move forward,” he said. A carefully worded joint statement talked of no concrete agreement other than a commitment to meet again in New Delhi at a date yet to be announced. “The proposal to include the cruise missile tests in the existing bilateral agreement… signed in October 2005 was floated by the Indian side during the talks between the foreign secretaries,” he said. He said the Pakistani side proposed for the two sides to exchange experiences and expertise in the field of nuclear technology, especially the operation of atomic power plants and their safety mechanisms.
He said the proposals were discussed by the two sides but no firm commitment was made by either one. Rao said India wanted the “satisfactory closure” of the trial in Pakistan of the Mumbai attacks accused, adding that it would help normalise ties. Pakistan said in response that it wanted the issue of terrorism to be addressed in a “collaborative” manner. “While we understand the concerns of India on the Mumbai attack, we hope and expect that this issue… requires to be addressed with a collaborative approach. I believe that has been the spirit of the engagement so far,” Bashir said.
“In our discussions, we were guided by the vision of our two prime ministers to build trust and confidence by discussing various issues in an open and constructive spirit and in a forward-looking manner,” said Rao. “We have been fully conscious of the complexities of our relationship and the consequent need to take incremental steps to promote mutual confidence and understanding,” she added.
According to the joint statement, both sides agreed to convene a meeting of the Working Group on Cross-Line of Control (LoC) confidence-building measures to recommend measures to strengthen and streamline the existing trade and travel arrangements across the LoC and propose modalities for the introducing of additional Cross-LoC confidence-building measures. The group would meet next month, said the statement. Bashir said that the measures were aimed at creating “more comfort and relief” for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
The top diplomats from Pakistan and India did not, however, disclose the additional Kashmir-specific measures to build confidence, but Bashir said they could include the launch of the Kargil-Skardu road link, increasing the frequency of cross-Kashmir bus links between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, and an increase in the number of trading days across the LoC. According to the joint statement, the foreign secretaries noted that both countries recognised that terrorism posed a continuing threat to peace and security and they reiterated the firm commitment of the two countries to fight and eliminate the menace in all its forms and manifestations.
They agreed on the need to strengthen cooperation in countering terrorism. Both sides also agreed to the need to promote friendly exchanges between the two countries. They noted with satisfaction the progress made towards the finalisation of the Visa Agreement, which would help liberalise the visa regime and facilitate people-to-people, business-to-business and sports contacts. The two sides also discussed measures to promote cooperation in various fields such as facilitating visits to religious shrines, media exchanges, holding of sports tournaments and cessation of hostile propaganda against each other.
The foreign secretaries agreed that the people of the two countries were at the heart of the relationship and humanitarian issues should be accorded priority and treated with sensitivity.
