Let’s build on the progress
The lesser the expectations from an event, the better the results. There was little hope of a breakthrough in the talks between the Pakistani and India foreign ministers which have been described as satisfactory by both sides. Krishna observed that the relations between the two sides were “on the right track” while Khar said the talks must remain uninterrupted and uninterruptible. Officials in India initially expressed unhappiness over the Pakistani foreign minister holding meeting with Kashmiri separatist leaders but this did not have any negative impact on the talks which proceeded exactly as planned at the secretary-level discussions. The objection was untenable as it was not the first time a Pakistani foreign minister visiting India was meeting with Kashmiri leaders.
It was widely understood that the foreign ministers would endorse the recommendations formulated at the level of their foreign secretaries. Thus, while a number of Kashmir-specific CBMs were announced, the two sides also agreed to work more closely in fighting terrorism in the region. Whether “region” includes Afghanistan is not clear. It was decided to convene separate meetings of the expert groups on nuclear and conventional CBMs in Islamabad in September 2011. Other committees too would hold meetings in the days to come and the FMs will again come together in the first half of 2012 to review the dialogue process.
The two sides have vowed to continue the dialogue with a “view to resolving peacefully all outstanding issues through constructive and result oriented engagement, and to establish friendly, cooperative and good neighbourly relations between Pakistan and India.” This is a goal that needs to be kept constantly in view. To achieve it, the parleys at Hyderabad House need to be followed by organised talks on specific disputes with a spirit of give and take. Some progress was recorded over a number of contentious issues during the composite dialogue which was abruptly called off in the wake of the Mumbai attacks. What is required is to restart the talks from the point where they were suspended so as to move beyond the ground already covered.
