India-talks : editorials in Pakistani dailies

Dialogue matters: edit in The Daily times, May 13
The recent SAARC Summit in Thimphu, Bhutan, promised many things aimed at promoting regional harmony and cooperation but the most promising development was a breaking of the ice between India and Pakistan on the sidelines. In continuation of that effort –as agreed to at the summit — the foreign ministers of both countries, Shah Mehmood Qureshi and S M Krishna, will be meeting for extended talks on July 15 this year in Islamabad to discuss the various issues that have remained contentious so far.

However, in the wake of the Mumbai attack’s subsequent conclusion — Kasab’s conviction — it is the issue of terrorism that will obtain top billing. Both countries, although extremely weary of this scourge, have nevertheless, time and again, locked horns on it. The fact that the interior ministers of both countries, P Chidambaram and Rehman Malik, will be meeting in Islamabad on June 26th to set the tone for the impending dialogue speaks volumes for the fact that terrorism will be the dominant topic. It is wise of Mr Qureshi to keep repeating that any attempts by non-state actors to disrupt the peace process should not achieve their objective. It is also very refreshing to note that our foreign minister is not entertaining any delusions about the “uphill task” that such a dialogue is, especially when it is occurring between two historically, and mutually, suspicious neighbours. He has cautioned the public not to expect a resolution to Kashmir and other such prickly issues overnight, and rightly so.

With matters on the table such as Sir Creek, Siachen, Kashmir and alleged violations of the Indus Water Treaty, and the pertaining issue of terrorism to boot, this is going to be a hefty agenda. However, this is a welcome about turn from the immutable deadlock voiced by India as irreversible till Pakistan ‘handles’ the matter of the Mumbai attackers.

We must realise that it is inconceivable that two nuclear-armed nations remain away from the dialogue front, as they cannot afford a war-like stance, not even in the worst-case scenario.

It is hoped that this move to bridge the trust deficit and overcome accusations will lead to mutually beneficial conclusions for both countries. Officially recognised as democracies, dialogue is the only way forward for both India and Pakistan as a means to usher in more civilised norms of conduct and normal relations. /www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\05\13\story_13-5-2010_pg3_1

Talks about talks: edit in The Frontier Post,  May 13
So there we are, at long last. Islamabad’s desperately-awaited telephonic conversation between the foreign ministers of Pakistan and India has taken place. And the two have agreed to meet, yes, after 65 days on July 15 in Islamabad, giving enough grist to professional commentators making a living from churning out the most pleasing scenarios out of the most dismal and to cliché-savvy and pretentiously self-righteous chatterboxes having fallen in love of seeing their faces on the TV screens. And we would be the last to embitter their good taste with even a slight streak of pessimism, although there are some home truths that we believe are too imperatively relevant and must not be left unspoken. For the first thing, the upcoming talks are about talks, not about the resumption of a stalled dialogue. The two interlocutors are, as Indian external affairs minister S.M. Krishna put it, to work out the modalities for carrying forward the dialogue process to discuss outstanding issues in an atmosphere of mutual trust. So there is many a caveat, many a ruffle to be sorted out before the actual dialogue starts. If the popular talk in the Indian media, think tanks and commentariat is any guide, the Indian officialdom wants just to do away with the format of the stalled composite dialogue and intend to give a new configuration to the dialogue process. And from foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s press talk, it appears that Islamabad too is not any averse to the idea. He was cited looking forward to reconsidering the framework of the stalled composite dialogue for updating it to accommodate “other issues”. That gives the uneasy sense that the dialogue process is now set to mark a fresh beginning, may be a start from the scratch. If that be it, the little said of this new venture, the better. In that eventuality, the venture could get bogged down in mere footling and technicalities from the outset and so remain moribund incessantly, corroborating the suspicions of many a sceptic that India is just marking time as it presently has no heart in a real dialogue with Pakistan and is in the show only to appease the Americans on whose nudging has it entered talks as has Islamabad. Not that the stalled composite dialogue was any spectacular success. It was not. It did mark some remarkable accomplishments on the front of confidence-building measures. But four rounds if it passed away without a slight stab on any of the substantive issues. Indeed, the major casualty of that dialogue’s futility was the intended visit of India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Pakistan. To give meaning and significance to his visit, he wanted to come to Islamabad with a stitched-up final agreement on the Siachen withdrawal by the two sides and sign it up here. But his defence establishment was the stumbling block. Neither the Indian army was agreeable to vacate some high peaks, nor was the Indian air force willing to abandon its facilities on the glacier. He succumbed to their adamancy and his intended visit consequently slipped into the cold storage where stays freezing now for years. Ironically, as the peace dialogue was going through the rounds, Manmohan Singh even acceded to the Indian army’s demand of raising a South West Command for a surprise Cold Start offensive against Pakistan along the border between the Indian states of Punjab and Rajasthan. Considered by every reckoning, the issue of peace essentially boils down to the unswerving political will of a leadership and its unbending resolve to stand by its commitment. That essential irrefutably has been shown by the Pakistani side in these past years and the Indian side has clearly shown it not so far. Indeed, by agreeing to a radical Kashmir settlement dispensation on the diplomatic back-channel, Pervez Musharraf had put his neck on a chopping block that only providence could have saved, the people of Pakistan and the Kashmiris would have surely spared not. Yet Manmohan Singh only dithered and wobbled, and could muster not the guts to own it up publicly and accept it, even though the knowledgeable people assert it reflected 90 per cent of India’s traditional stance on the Kashmir dispute. Arguably, if a political leadership has the will, the commitment and the determination, it makes no difference what format or a framework a peace dialogue wears on. Peace flows in and in spates in any event. And the days ahead will show if the Indian leadership is real, if its intents are real, and if it is serious and means business. Its acts will count, not its vows. http://www.thefrontierpost.com/News.aspx?ncat=ed&nid=94

Pakistan-India talks: edit in The News, May 13
The doves can again be seen in the skies after a long period during which the hawks had prevented them from fluttering a feather. The foreign ministers of India and Pakistan, after a detailed talk over the telephone, have agreed to meet in Islamabad in the middle of July. This is indeed a breakthrough that could help resume the peace process interrupted by the 2008 acts of terrorism that left 166 people dead in Mumbai. It is possible that recent peace initiatives, including the `Aman ki Asha` effort, helped create some of the goodwill that encouraged moves seen at the official level. Certainly the meetings that brought people together, including those from the media, did no harm at all.

Shah Mehmood Qureshi has stated that terrorism will figure as a key issue in the talks. We know this is essential. If the matter is not tackled we run the risk of seeing another episode, such as that in 2008, throwing the dialogue effort into a nosedive. To avoid this, the question of militancy needs to be dealt with. The matter of Kashmir stands at the centre of this. It may not be possible to immediately open up discussion on the territorial dispute that has for over six decades held up good relations between New Delhi and Islamabad. But as high-level talks resume, both countries would do well to keep in mind that moving towards a resolution is essential to lasting peace. Necessary confidence-building measures may be adopted ahead of broaching the Kashmir issue, but in the final analysis it is this region which acts to generate militancy. We can hope for a lasting era of security and stability only when a fair settlement has been reached. http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=238934

A fresh start:  Dawn Editorial, 13 May, 2010
Are Pakistan and India inching towards a new phase in relations? The meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries on July 15 will go some way to providing the answer, but improving relations seems to be on the minds of both camps for the first time since the Mumbai attacks.
Never mind that the reasons for the change of heart may lie in faraway Washington or neighbouring Afghanistan; India and Pakistan must seize whatever opportunities that come their way to put their volatile relationship on firmer footing. While the focus will be on the talks between the foreign ministers, there are at least two opportunities before then that could set the stage for a real breakthrough in July. Meetings between the interior ministers and foreign secretaries of both sides will occur before then, and perhaps it is at those meetings that goodwill can be created.
Creating that elusive goodwill between the two countries is a matter of both sides offering something new. India is still very concerned about the relative lack of action here in Pakistan against those linked to the Mumbai attacks. On this count, it could be helpful to inject new life in the anti-terrorism trial that is moving desultorily, marred by countless adjournments. Yes, the wheels of justice move slowly in the subcontinent, but there is a sense that concluding the trial of the Mumbai suspects is not as much a matter of concern as it should be. A more vigorous trial could go some way to ease Indian suspicions.
On its part, India needs to make some gesture which demonstrates it genuinely wants a result-oriented dialogue process, and not just endless talks about talks that produce photo-ops and little else. Perhaps India should think about concluding a deal on Siachen and Sir Creek, two issues where the bureaucrats have come close to sealing a final settlement. There are other gestures that could be made too. The point is that between now and July 15 there are opportunities to ensure that a genuine breakthrough occurs when the foreign ministers meet — and one hopes that no untoward incident mars the prospect. http://news.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/editorial/19-a-fresh-start-350-hh-04