New Delhi, Aug.3 (ANI): Zamaana badey shauq se sun rahaa thaa/ hum hii so gaye daastaan kehte kehte: Mir Saqib (The world was listening keenly to our conversation; it is we who got bored, repeating the same words).
Yet another Pakistani V.I.P visit, yet another joint statement, more huffing and puffing over Kashmir and it is over. Till the next time, next year. And yet, one can safely say that Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar's visit to India in July 2011 was extraordinary in more ways than one.
The media went starry eyed. Who cares about straying fishermen in jails or patients wanting visas for medical treatment, there was hottie with a Birkin (supposedly a 17 lakh rupee bag) in town. But from the moment she landed, she made it clear that she wasn't a pushover. Just like her predecessor S.M Qureshi.
If Qureshi was boorish, then Hina Khar is sharp. Both are to the manor born and both trod the same path on relations with India. After meeting with Indian Foreign Minister S.M.Krishna, she said she wanted to unburden the India-Pakistan relationship from the baggage of history, but this seemingly ambitious sound bite was just for television cameras. She had made her country's position unambiguously clear by meeting with Hurriyat separatist (Kashmiri) leaders before meeting with the Indian delegation.
When I asked her how she was shedding the baggage of history if she continued to hobnob with Indian separatists, she replied, "Why should you hold that against me? Every foreign minister who has come here has met with them. They are stakeholders."
On Kashmir, she won't shed any baggage of the past. In fact, she was keen on pushing the envelope further. When I probed further about the Hurriyat, she said that she would like to include the Hurriyat in talks on Kashmir with India in the future. So does Shri Syed Ali Shah Geelani get invited to Islamabad next year? Will India allow him, because after all India is a democracy and, he is a citizen? If it sounds absurd, don't be surprised because that is exactly what Hina Khar thinks India should do, be the large hearted democracy that it claims to be.
When I asked her how was this line any different from the past, Khar delicately bristled, "mine is not an isolated position, it is part of the UN resolutions."
Here we go again! Less than a month ago, her predecessor had said almost the same words to me in an interview in Islamabad. More of the same, but just more attractively packaged, and, said with a smile, not a sneer.
On her return to Islamabad, Hina Khar said that Dr Manmohan Singh had said that he was willing to walk the extra mile for "settlement of all unresolved issues." Now, it is clear that she means 'the core issue' of Kashmir.
Since we don't have the Prime Minister's version of his meeting with Ms Khar, one can only go by what he has said in the recent past about Kashmir. Basically, he told Pakistan - Hands off. You have issues inside your borders. Deal with them.
External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna today made a suo moto statement in Parliament where he said that in his talks with Ms Khar he "had called for credible and effective action against jihadi leaders such as Hafiz Saeed and terrorist groups such as Jamaat-ud-Daawa and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, who continue to incite violence and hatred against India. I took the opportunity to also convey our displeasure at Pakistan Foreign Minister meeting Hurriyat leaders on July 26, even before bilateral discussions between the two governments could commence."
The joint statement at the end of the talks was reasonably optimistic on the knotty Kashmir issue. We are told that India and Pakistan have decided to find "a peaceful solution by narrowing divergences and building convergences."
So, what are the convergences in Kashmir? Increase trade and reduction of tariffs, increase in the number of visas issued. Oh, but wait. It hasn't happened. They just agreed to talk about it. In the future. Secretary level talks that is. More delegation level visits.
And, the two sides will discuss Siachen too. The ice mountain, which we occupy and will not vacate. We have had a 'conflict' with them in the past. So, now we are there and won't leave. But that doesn't mean we won't discuss it in a 'free, frank and cordial atmosphere' aimed at 'building trust and confidence.' We will exchange 'non-papers' on the issue with their side.
The same pattern is visible over the Mumbai 2008 investigations. Glacial pace is what the former Indian foreign secretary Nirupama Rao had said about the investigations being carried out in Pakistan on the role of Hafeez Sayeed and the Jamaat ud Dawa in the attack. But then, the joint statement issued after the foreign minister level talks in New Delhi last month says that the two countries are satisfied that they are talking on the issue. It is at secretary level you see.
Ye aur baat hai ke khud ko bohat tabah kiya/ Magar yeh dekh tere saath toh nibhah kia (It is a different matter that I destroyed myself, but see, at least I was faithful to you).
The two foreign ministers will meet again in the first half of next year. Till then, several 'commissions' will visit New Delhi and Islamabad, reaffirming their commitment to talk further. Well, baby steps yes. But better than war or 'conflict'. Yes, infinitely better. By Smita Prakash (ANI)
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