The third Round Table Conference (RTC) on Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) will be held in New Delhi on 24 April 2007. Ghulam Nabi Azad, Chief Minister, J&K, announced the date after a meeting with the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh and the Home Minister, Shivraj Patil. Given the recent coalition crises on troop withdrawals from the state, is the RTC an attempt to divert attention from internal differences within the government? Is it meant to gain political mileage before the next elections? Will it rope in the separatists'?

The concept of Round Table Conferences was introduced in January 2006 to initiate an internal peace process in J&K. However, in the absence of the separatists' and of the ethnic groups and minorities from Jammu and Ladakh, previous RTCs have achieved limited success. Discussions remain the monopoly of mainstream parties.

The five Working Groups (WGs) set up by Manmohan Singh at the second RTC were to present their reports and recommendations at the third RTC. However, the WG on Centre-State relations has not prepared its report due to lack of consensus on demands for 'autonomy, 'self governance,' and 'self-rule' in the state. Initially, there were disagreements over the formation and leadership of this WG as A.M. Ahmadi, Supreme Court Chief Justice (retd), declined to chair it. The first meeting was held long after the date for submission of its findings. Moreover, the group is yet to discuss the issues of 1946, 1965 and 1971 refugees, and of backward areas of Ladakh and parts of Jammu. Then what was the urgency to schedule the third RTC without this WG report?

The third RTC needs to be seen in the context of the Congress-People's Democratic Party (PDP) coalition crisis. The crises began when Ghulam Nabi Azad rejected the PDP demand for demilitarization and withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from the state. The crisis was resolved earlier this month when the PM decided to set up an expert panel and a committee to review the feasibility of troop relocation in the state. The rising dissatisfaction of the PDP leaders with the Congress raised doubts on the stability of the coalition and the possibility of early elections. Therefore, the suggestion to hold the third RTC is an attempt to restore their political alliance.

The National Conference (NC), led by Omar Abdullah, has condemned the PDP's demand for troop withdrawal, thereby increasing tensions between the Opposition and the PDP. Abdullah has been insisting on inclusion of Sayed Salah-u-din, United Jihad Council Chairman in the dialogue process, arguing that peace can only be achieved by involving the militant groups without pre-conditions. Earlier, it was the Mirwaiz faction that had demanded this.But, the PDP is against the inclusion of the separatists' and militants in the third RTC and dialogue as it wishes to create space for its own leadership. The demand by competing political parties, to involve militant groups in the Round Table Conferences, is more an attempt to gain the political high ground.

The separatist groups have yet again decided to boycott the upcoming RTC. The reasons given by the Mirwaiz Hurriyat and Yasin Malik's Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) for declining the invitation remain unchanged since the first RTC in 2006. Yasin Malik announced the launch of a mass programme, 'Safer-e-Azadi,' from Kokernag on 6 May 2007, saying the RTC exercise did not really involve the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Only if the JKLF participates will it expand the RTC membership beyond the so-called 'pro-India' groups. Differences, however, within the separatists' on participation are evident from Hashim Qureshi's (Chairman, Democratic Liberation Party) criticism of Malik's mass programme as a 'publicity stunt.'

The Mirwaiz faction has put forward two conditions for its participation in the RTCs. These include discussions on Musharraf's four-point formula on Kashmir and the involvement of Azad Kashmir leaders at the RTC. The Mirwaiz has praised Musharraf for his flexibility on resolving the Kashmir issue and is critical of the Indian government for not reciprocating. However, when 'fexibility' is the key word, why does the Mirwaiz faction not show the same? The Mirwaiz has been critical of the RTCs since they only concern relations between Srinagar and New Delhi, although, at the third RTC, Centre-State relations are not being discussed. Then why can it not participate if it claims to be a 'true representative' of the people? Is it not in its interest to review the reports submitted by the four WGs? The continuous refusal by the separatist groups to join the RTCs has allowed mainstream political parties in the state to gain a monopoly over deciding the 'path to peace.'

Is it not an irony that while Khurshid Kasuri, Pakistan Foreign Minister, has declared that India and Pakistan are close to a Kashmir solution, political groups and the separatists' in J&K are unable to sit down around a round table? What can the RTC achieve when parties cannot think beyond their selfish political interests?