Some pressure from the outside
So a little external pressure and the Modi government budges from its tough stand on Pakistan, especially negotiations regarding Kashmir. Calling off the foreign secretary talks with Islamabad recently seems to have rubbed some of New Delhi’s friends the wrong way. Modi is due in Japan shortly, then he’ll meet Obama in Washington next month, and both are pro talks. Ban Ki Moon, too, has voiced similar sentiments from the United Nations. So, with the ball back in India’s court, it is heartening to note their foreign office renewing its commitment to the Simla Accord and Lahore Declaration, which mandate negotiations on all outstanding issues, including Kashmir.
But a very long and winding road must be travelled before Kashmir can be brought to the negotiating table. It’s not that the two countries have not scented a solution before. They came close to settling quite a few of the ‘outstanding issues’, especially Sir Creek, during the Manmohan-Musharraf interaction not too long ago. There was chatter that the negotiating teams believed a solution was perhaps “a signature away”, but hesitation in India, and then internal breakdown in Pakistan, prevented progress.
Yet the three-year long process, marked by repeated backdoor back-and-forth, finally proved that the two countries could move forward on even the most contentious issues. The present situation is far removed from the optimism of those days. Both Nawaz and Modi have indicated willingness to move closer to the other. Yet both are held back by regressive lobbies that have had their way for far too long. Hopes were raised when Nawaz visited New Delhi for Modi’s inauguration, but it has been sharply downhill since then. But now that the Indian government is realising that the present global situation will not permit the kind of stiffness it has been exhibiting of late, there is hope that better sense will prevail. The Indian community should continue to play a positive role in resolving one of the longest lingering standoffs in the world.
