Composite Talks

On 18 February 2004 India and Pakistan announced at Islamabad the schedule of talks and meetings aimed at a peaceful settlement of all bilateral issues including Kashmir. The foreign secretaries will meet in Delhi in May-June to hold talks on Kashmir and omnibus peace and security issues including confidence building measures. Talk on other subjects – Siachen, Wullar Barrage, Sir Creek, terrorism, drug trafficking, economic and commercial cooperation, as well as promotion of friendly exchanges in other fields will be held in Islamabad in July. At the end of these composite talks, there will be a meeting of the foreign ministers in August to take stock of matters.

Such talks have been held earlier also. These failed to yield any results. This time there are signs of a will to sustain the peace process. Vajpayee’s 18 April 2003 address at Srinagar set into motion thought processes and measures that have culminated in a ray of hope after the Musharraf-Vajpayee meeting at Islamabad on 5 January 2004. This set forth the objective of consolidation of the positive trends established by the CBM, proposed by India during the third week of October 2003 and responded to positively by Pakistan on 29 October. Basically these were to restore normalization between the two countries in the way of air, rail and road links, reestablish sporting ties and people-to-people contacts by means of a liberalized visa regime and opening new transport routes – Srinagar-Muzaffarbad and a ferry service between Mumbai and Karachi.

Sustaining the Peace Process

            In an interview to The Times of India on 17 February, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri stated that this time there was a demonstration of political will on both sides. Recent discussions at Islamabad under the aegis of a Track-2 process, which has been in being for over ten years, highlighted the changes in the thought process of the Indo-Pak dialogue. The two delegations conferred not as ‘we’ and ‘they’ but jointly to chalk out steps to sustain the peace process. It was agreed that the two governments should involve all the political parties in their respective countries in the process. There was anxiety to ensure that an event like a terrorist act should not be allowed to derail the process. There was also emphasis on economic cooperation, especially the implementation of oil and gas pipe-lines from Iran and Turkemenistan to Pakistan and India.

A noticeable change in Pakistan is its emphasis on economy. One heard observations such as, “we see where China has reached in its quest for economic development and where India is heading; Pakistan must pursue this path also. It is realized that with the process of globalization, markets in Pakistan may be flooded. There is, therefore, a determination to compete. It may not be inconceivable that ‘Economy’ rather than Kashmir may become the ‘core’ issue for Pakistan. All the same, as noted earlier, the May-June talks in Delhi are to be on “Kashmir and omnibus peace and security issues”.

Core Issues

The economy is certainly becoming the core issue for Pakistan but the centrality of the issue of Kashmir is also to be reckoned with. Fortunately, it is now recognised that there is no military solution. In his speech to the clerics on 18 February, President Musharraf made it clear that the Kashmir issue could be solved only through dialogue. Foreign Minister Kasuri has also made the observation that both Pakistan and India realize that there is no military solution. Both governments are committed to discarding their hardline stands. There is talk about give and take and a solution acceptable to both as well as the Kashmiri people. India by giving up its claim on POK/AK and the Northern Areas would be giving up its hardline stand. Similarly, Pakistan by giving up its demand for the implementation of UN resolutions would fall in the same category. As far as the people of Jammu and Kashmir are concerned, India’s parleys with Huriyat is a step in the right direction. Elections in all segments – Ladakh, Jammu/Rajouri/Poonch/Valley as well as AK/POK and Northern Areas is one way of ascertaining the will of the people as, issues of independent status, affiliation of various parts with India and Pakistan would become election issues of various contesting parties. 

A Slow Process

As observed by Kasuri, real talks can take place only after the Indian elections. Then too the process will be slow with some issues initially intractable. This highlights the value of ‘composite’ as opposed to ‘linked’ talks. It must be ensured that progress is made wherever possible; be it in trade and commerce, exchange of students and academics as also of high ranking, military officers, and calls by naval ships at each others ports. The cease fire should be made a permanent feature and agreement on the Siachen issue must be revived. Considerable work has been done on this and it should be possible to finalize it.

People-to-people contacts can pay considerable dividends. Government climb downs from hard positions can be facilitated by moderate societal inputs. In spite of difficulties and pitfalls, both governments need to persist in their efforts to find acceptable answers. This alone will permit them to concentrate on people’s needs and requirements of economic and social uplift.