India has dragged its feet long enough
The Foreign Secretary of India is finally visiting Islamabad on March 3. The sudden decision by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to resume the parleys after a unilateral move to call off the talks scheduled earlier has given birth to speculations on both sides of the border. Is this a result of an advice supposedly given privately by President Barack Obama to the Indian Prime Minister to resume the dialogue process or is it dictated by BJP government’s internal compulsions? Are the talks a fallout of the Delhi election debacle as Times of India put it early this month? Interestingly, the schedule for Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar’s visit was announced soon after BJP and PDP sealed the deal to form a coalition government in the Indian controlled Kashmir. There are reports that the issue of reconciliation with Pakistan and talks with the Hurriyat were mentioned in the deal.
Whatever the reasons behind a sudden change of heart on the part of the Indian Prime Minister, much more important are the questions about the future of talks. To start with, will the talks put an end to the ongoing border clashes? Pakistan’s civilian and military leadership has decided to bring the issue to the notice of Pakistan’s allies inside and outside the region, creating a perception that it has given up on the matter. Failure to stop ceasefire violations would not bode well for the future of talks.
Will India still react strongly to Pakistan’s ambassador meeting Hurriyat leaders? If so, the talks may not proceed beyond March 23 when Pakistan’s High Commission in New Delhi invariably invites them to the function. Pakistan is not willing to cede its right as a party to the Kashmir issue and has made it known that if India avoided to discuss the dispute with Pakistan, it would raise it at international forums. In the first meeting the two foreign secretaries will, of course, ‘talk about talks’. But if the subsequent meetings failed to produce anything substantial, cynicism is likely to set in.
Although I am not privy to high power confabulations in Delhi, I am willing to bet that Government of India will have no problem with Pakistani officials talking to Hurriet separatists when they are invited by Pakistani High Commissioner on March 23. We are a mature Democracy and we understand we have no right, unlike China, to ask others not to meet if that is what they want to do. GoI objected the last time because Pakistan showed poor judgement in inviting the separatists just before they were to meet Indian officials. However, it would seem only commonsensical for Pakistan not to cause irritation to its interlocutor in its own (Pakistan's) interest. India may not object to your meeting but it is under no obligation not to demonstrate its irritation by denying you out of silent spite. In other words, it is not wise to be oversmart for your own good.
Comments are closed.