Pakistan and India are set to revive Track II dialogue to explore ways of resolving issues between the two countries. This is a second attempt at talks under the Sharif government. The road to normalising relations has been rocky, especially since PM Modi took charge. As Sartaj Aziz suggested on Monday, while some issues, such as tensions along the LoC and Working Boundary and confronting the regional terror threat are of immediate concern, there are longer-term issues, usually code for the Kashmir dispute — that unfortunately found no mention in the India-Pakistan joint statement in Ufa — that must be addressed.However It is also reality, not a single issue has been resolved between the two countries since Partition, and the list of grievances referred to above is periodically added to rather than subtracted from. The longer our mutual grievances go unaddressed, the less likely they are ever to be — because both sides come always from a position of entrenched intransigence. Neither side, whatever the nature or stance of the government of the day, is willing to risk losing face and giving the other side a little of what it wants.The point to be made is that Track-II diplomacy has been tried many times before. In fact it has figured during the tenure of nearly every government over the past many years. The process generally involves a discussion on a range of issues between retired diplomats or others who are not directly in government as a means to build confidence and trust. It is argued that this can help pave the way for negotiations at the official level on critical matters.The list of topics that were considered to be important included a dialogue between the two countries’ national security advisers on terrorism and talks at the level of the directors general of the Indian Border Security Force and Pakistan Rangers. The list also included a dialogue over military operations relating to the enforcement of a ceasefire along the Line of Control and Working Boundary. The elephant in the room, Kashmir, was not on the list. This was despite the fact that Aziz had said earlier on that Pakistan would not start a dialogue with India unless the Kashmir dispute was on the agenda.The Indian refusal to use the K-word seems to imply that they think that Kashmir is a part of India— end of discussion. Indian leaders have to realise that they are not a superpower yet, and not as intimidating as they think they are.Musharraf faced a similar dilemma when dealing with the BJP in Agra. But, when push came to shove and Indian extreme-right delusions began spoiling the atmosphere, he chose to walk than get caught in the controversy. Perhaps Nawaz should have done the same, even though the setting was markedly different. Now the Indians have got their demands into the joint statement while Pakistani concerns, which have stood for decades, are suddenly unacceptable, and New Delhi is making a loud case of it. Right now there is so much hostility directed towards Pakistan from New Delhi that it may take more than Track II to end this.
pk.shafaqna.com
