India says it will resume bilateral talks with Pakistan, more than a year after the two countries broke off all contact. Analysts say it’s a breakthrough but have warned not to expect too much from the proposed meetings.
Relations between India and Pakistan have been frozen since the Mumbai bombings in November 2008, in which 166 people were killed. Delhi blamed the attacks on the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Islamabad has welcomed the invitation to resume dialogue, and Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told the Geo television channel: “We wish that talks start and be positive and I wish we could start from the point where it was broken.”
Significant development
Dipanker Banarjee, an expert on the region, told RNW the announcement is significant, but it’s just the first step in re-establishing diplomatic links between India and Pakistan:
“What we are hoping to achieve is to address the whole gamut of outstanding issues between the two countries… We are really only talking about the success of the initiation of the talks, we’re not talking yet of a conclusion.”
Listen to an interview with Samina Ahmed from the International Crisis Group in Islamabad
Pakistan and India initiated full-scale talks in 2004, aimed at reducing tension over the disputed region of Kashmir. That negotiating progress was halted abruptly after the Mumbai blasts.
Inevitable
But both countries have recently come under increased US pressure to resolve their differences and work together to solve ongoing security issues in Afghanistan. And the good working relationship between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Barack Obama means it was inevitable India would try to extend an olive branch at some point, according to Samina Ahmed from the International Crisis Group in Islamabad:
“I’m absolutely sure that in talks with both the Pakistanis and the Indians, the Americans have been urging them to restart a dialogue and take it on from there, at the same as also warning the Pakistanis that if there’s another attack, it might not be back to square one.”
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Thanks jasmin, very nice article. Hiram you are very sharp. Jay Hind
Read this article by Pankaj Vohra, Hindustan Times
February 07, 2010
First Published: 22:22 IST(7/2/2010)
The Indian government’s offer to hold talks with Pakistan is not likely to go down well with the aam aadmi in this country. The general feeling is that Pakistan is the perpetrator of terrorism on our soil and until all terror structures are dismantled in that country, there should be no dialogue at the top level. In fact, no sooner did the announcement come there was an anti-India rally in Lahore. On the same day, anti-India forces called for a war against us in Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. What is most significant is that the ‘Yakjaiti-e-Kashmir’ (Kashmir solidarity conference) was attended there by players who are said to be masterminds of the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai in 2008. The meeting was convened by the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a front of the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba and addressed by Abdul Rehman Makki, Syed Salahuddin, the commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen and former ISI chief Hamid Gul.
In this context, the timing of the talks offer was wrong particularly when the scars of various strikes by these outfits are yet to heal in India. It is obvious that New Delhi has not read the situation in Pakistan correctly and has probably agreed to this ‘proximity dialogue’’ with Islamabad due to pressure from the United States.
There are many strategic experts and diplomats who are of the view that a foreign secretary-level engagement should happen only after some sort of satisfactory response on terror comes from across the border. The situation in Pakistan is such that even its own government does not appear to have control over certain events. On top of that, their Army Chief, General Ashfaq Kiyani, has been quoted by the media as saying that the Pakistani Army was India-centric.
Thus, in face of such hostile reactions, should India go in for this dialogue? It is common knowledge that the army and the ISI are dominant players in the affairs of their country and the civilian government does not have any real influence on policies. In addition, the civilian government has limited control over its own territory and its own people. So even if a serious attempt to engage Islamabad is made, its success will depend on how the army and the ISI react to the outcome.
Intelligence agencies here are rightly very nervous about this initiative and believe that the line between State-sponsored terrorism and non-State sponsored terrorism in Pakistan has blurred over the years. In addition there are groups getting all kinds of support from the ISI, which choose to strike in India and South Asia while there are others who target only westerners and Americans. It has been correctly stated that Pakistan is the epicentre of global terrorism and also terrorism in India. Its identity depends on its anti-India posturing.
It serves America’s interests that there is no conflict between New Delhi and Islamabad since in event of a confrontation, Pakistan may get an excuse to disengage itself from its war against groups in Waziristan and other parts of their country and Afghanistan. The US has already set a deadline for the withdrawal of its troops and wants to go about this business with the help of Pakistan.
But unlike India’s initiative where the proposed talks will be held between civilian entities, the US and also Afghanistan deal directly with the army in Islamabad. Obviously, the Americans know only too well that it is the army that calls the
shots there.
The doors for negotiations should always be open between the two countries but the agenda should be determined keeping in mind our own foreign policy, security and strategic interests. For this, the ability to read the situation in Pakistan correctly is necessary. Unless we want to get into a Sharm-el-Sheikh type controversy. Between us.
Ah, another chapter of peace! India is always sincere to have peace as Pakistan abuses this friendship to lead proxy war shamelessly. Wonder when will Indian leaders learn to say NO to the US, to have peace in India.Pakistan brazenly misuses every opportunity to attack India in every way. I pity my countrymen, who have to bear successive governments who succumb to international pressure, and the surprising thing is that all know that Pakistan is not sincere towards India.
In the period of Ancient India there was no Pakistan, Afghanistan etc. Even queen Gandhari, mother of Yurjodhana in the story of Mahabharata, came from Kandhahar/Gandhahar in Afghanistan. This evil side of the historical life still exists. Killing and bombing in Mumbai attack, Kashmir etc. The Brits divided the nation in India and Pakistan. Guess who helped Pakistan to become a nuclear power & possess Atomic/nuclear bomb. Thus after partition one nation became enemies of each other and they can kill the whole nation in very huge numbers/mass destruction. This political setup happened also in China/Taiwan, Korea (North and South), Vietnam (North and South), Afrika, in the middle East etc.
My message to India and Pakistan (and also Afghanistan) is "Go back to your roots and open your eyes". Do not kill each other because you are one nation poisoned by some crazy idea.
The Brits are the cause and effect of the world's problems. I bet if one could go back to the Garden of Eden and looked into the eyes of the Serpent, you would see the Union Jack staring at you. Eve must have been shocked when she heard the Serpent speak in a British voice.
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