One step
forward, two steps back
Prime Minister (PM)
Imran Khan in his first speech after the July 25, 2018 elections had sent out a
positive message to India regarding normalisation of relations through a
resumption of the dialogue between the two countries that has been stalled
since December 2015. He had said if India takes one step forward in this
regard, Pakistan would take two. Perhaps in his zeal to see Pakistan and India
engaging with each other, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi subsequently misread
Indian PM Narendra Modi’s congratulatory message to Imran Khan as agreeing to
reopen the dialogue. This was then refuted by India’s Ministry of External
Affairs (MEA). In reply to Mr Modi’s message, PM Imran Khan wrote a letter to
his Indian counterpart suggesting a meeting between the foreign ministers of
both countries on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session and welcomed
the possibility of PM Modi visiting Pakistan to attend the SAARC summit in
Islamabad. What followed was clear but tinged with the colours of a comedy of
errors. On the SAARC summit in Islamabad India unequivocally rejected the
notion per se. On the foreign ministers’ meeting in New York, the MEA initially
only felt it necessary to clarify that it was just a meeting, not a dialogue,
and then backed out from it citing “unclean intentions” on Pakistan’s part.
Indian media has reported that the post-haste cancellation of the New York
meeting came in the wake of charges that pro-Pakistan elements were responsible
for the killing of Indian security forces personnel and charged Pakistan with
“glorifying terrorists”, a reference to the commemorative postage stamps
carrying slain Kashmiri leader Burhanuddin Wani and others’ likenesses. In
response to this flip-flop on India’s part, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood
Qureshi had to respond to media questions by stating that Pakistan wanted a
dignified dialogue and would be reluctant to follow up its offers of talks
unless the other side signalled its willingness to come to the negotiations
table.
Pakistan-India
relations resemble less a waltz and more a forward-backward minuet. In response
to PM Imran Khan’s generous offer of two steps for one, India has instead opted
for one step forward, two steps back. New Delhi’s stance since it called off
the dialogue in December 2015 has been that terrorism and dialogue cannot go
hand in hand. Perhaps to meet this objection, PM Imran Khan had offered a
comprehensive set of talks to include not only trade, people to people
contacts, religious tourism and humanitarian issues, but also terrorism and
Kashmir. One hopes attacks on mainland India like the Mumbai attacks that led
to the dialogue being frozen by India are a thing of the past. As far as the
Kashmir struggle is concerned, it needs to be noted that Pakistan is no longer
the sole factor in the ongoing conflict. An indigenous element has by now
become part of the equation. Nevertheless, on this most intractable issue as on
Siachen, Sir Creek, etc, there seems no escape from the logic of dialogue, especially
since all-out war is no longer an option after both countries have become
declared nuclear weapons powers. The pattern of the South Asian minuet seems to
be that with each change of government in either country, hopes are resurrected
of a peaceful resolution of all issues through talks. All too soon however,
this initial euphoria makes shipwreck on predictable stances on both sides
following a by now tired script. Too many generations in both countries have
suffered the consequences of the unresolved Pakistan-India conflicts because of
the heavy burden of military spending that leaves precious little in the way of
butter when guns are prized on the menu. Surely the time has come for once
again efforts to be made for a fresh start, given that Islamabad now has a new
government. If PM Modi is worried about domestic political compulsions related
to the general elections in India next year, he could prove himself a
courageous, visionary leader if he did not allow such expediencies to stand in
the way of the responsibility of ensuring peace and normalisation with Pakistan
through talks.
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