Future of peace process

Depends on cooperation on both sides

The peace process is moving in the right direction. Indian and Pakistani Foreign Secretaries have jointly agreed to reschedule the talks to hold them in “very near future”. India has welcomed the arrest of several members of the JeM on Wednesday. Security personnel have meanwhile arrested another lot of JeM activists and sealed their seminary in Sialkot. India has hailed the formation of a special investigation team by Pakistan promising all necessary cooperation from Indian agencies.

There is enough in the region and outside to push the neighboung countries to put their act together. Daesh is fast emerging as a global threat. It has claimed the attack on Pakistan consulate in Jalalabad and on ARY office in Islamabad. The network conducted a series of attacks in Turkey and has raised its head in Jakarta. Four Indian citizens have been arrested in Syria on charge of trying to enlist for Daseh. A few months back 11 Indians were arrested in UAE on charges of recruiting, financing and providing logistics to potential volunteers.

Side by side with the positive developments, negative things are also happening. Hindu extremist group Bajrang Dal has vandalised PIA office in New Delhi. More incidents of the sort can happen on both sides. One expects both countries to refrain from overreacting.

Disquieting questions, however, continue to lurk in minds. Will the policy of zero tolerance for terrorism continue with the zeal being presently displayed? Are we really convinced that none is to be allowed to use Pakistan as a staging post for terrorist attacks and that henceforth there would be no cherry-picking? Why then did it take it so long to clamp down on LeJ and JeM? Why is there reluctance to fully implement NAP? Will Indian leadership on its part display courage to move beyond friendly gestures and take up issues like water sharing, Siachen and Kashmir with the determination to resolve them? The future of peace process depends on answers to these questions.