NEW DELHI, May 12: Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha said on Monday that he now had a detailed roadmap for peace with Pakistan, beginning with official-level talks that will work towards a summit-level meet.
In an interview with NDTV news channel, Mr Sinha denied any American pressure on India to resume the peace talks and said it was not in national interest even to suggest that this was the case.
“Every step is clear in our mind. There is no confusion and we will proceed according to the plan,” Mr Sinha said. He declined to give details but indicated that India remains serious about proceeding forward with the talks.
“The two prime ministers have spoken on the telephone. We have announced some steps and there has been some response from Pakistan. And, I suppose, at some appropriate time, the dialogue will also begin,” he said.
Ruling out any Lahore or Agra-type summit for now, Sinha added: “The thawing has already begun but there will be no dramatic gestures. The general approach is to begin with official-level talks leading up to a political summit. The idea is to prepare the groundwork and discuss what we are going to talk about.”
Mr Sinha rejected Pakistan’s characterisation of Kashmir as core issue, saying that future talks should be held within a composite framework.
“None of the existing agreements between the countries have ever referred to Kashmir as the core issue. When you start a process, you can’t rewrite history or erase it. You have to start on the basis of existing agreements. The right approach would be to treat Jammu and Kashmir as one of the issues, and start a dialogue on all issues, including that of Jammu and Kashmir.”
To a pointed query on whether ending cross-border terrorism was a pre-condition to the resumption of dialogue, he said: “Ending cross-border terrorism is not a pre-condition but a practical necessity.”
Mr Sinha’s remarks appeared to have been endorsed by Defence Minister George Fernandes who told reporters that the decision to talk to Pakistan was the only path to peace.
“Our previous experience with Pakistan has not been good,” Mr Fernandes said. “When we launched this initiative, some people asked us why we kept talking to Pakistan. My answer was that even after the last shots have been fired, the warring sides sit and talk to resolve their disputes. We cannot keep waiting for a dialogue to start,” he said.
NDTV quoted reports as saying that the talks could begin as early as next month.
It quoted Pakistani Information Minister Rashid Ahmed as saying that the two neighbours could begin as early as next month.
“The possibility is there that Pakistan and India could initiate a dialogue sometime at the beginning of next month. I am not giving any date or confirmation,” he said. “This is just a possibility. This is what I can guess at the moment.”
Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed has said that “softening” of borders will be key to the normalization of the situation in the state.
Mr Sayeed told reporters after a 30-minute meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishan Advani: “When such a proposal can be considered for Rajasthan and Sindh (in Pakistan), why can’t the same be considered for our state? This will only increase the pace of normalization.”
Mr Sayeed said this would be a confidence-building measure and would also increase trading activities in the state.
Meanwhile, Yashwant Sinha is to proceed to London this month to attend a meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) where Pakistan’s re-entry into the group is expected to be considered, officials said on Monday.
New Delhi was tight-lipped on Monday about the position it would take.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri had last week expressed fears that Mr Sinha would seek to subvert Islamabad’s quest to be reinducted into the Commonwealth.
Mr Sinha is expected to attend the meeting in London on May 19, four days after he holds talks with US Secretary of State Colin Powell in Moscow. The two are expected to exchange notes on Mr Kasuri’s current visit to Washington, diplomats said.
India however was playing its response close to the chest.
Asked about India’s stand on Pakistan’s re-admittance, a foreign ministry spokesman told reporters: “It is a multilateral decision. You cannot pre-judge multilateral decisions. We will wait to see what view the CMAG, as a collective forum, takes on the issue”.
Citing the Harare Declaration and the Milbrooke Action Plan, he said the Commonwealth works according to certain rules, regulations and principles. “It is not for me to pre-judge what CMAG will do”.
Issues that need to be explained include restoration of full democracy, president also being the Chief of Army Staff and the fact that there has been no joint sitting of the Senate and the National Assembly, Indian officials say.
