ISLAMABAD, June 26: While Pakistan and India are engaged in fresh Confidence Building Measures (CBMs), the status of the CBMs announced by the Indian government just before the Agra summit in July 2001 remains unclear.
The CBMs were announced by the Indian government on unilateral basis in piecemeal from July 4 to 9, 2001.
They were: 20 scholarships to Pakistani students in Indian technical institutes; invitation to Pakistani poets, academics and writers; exchange of students to tour Indian institutions and reduction or elimination of tariff on 50 items.
On July 6, 2001, visit of director-general of Indian military Operations to Pakistan was announced.
On July 9 the Indian government had announced that Pakistani passport holders would be allowed to enter by road and obtain visas at the checkpoint at Attari.
When Dawn asked the Indian Deputy High Commissioner, Mr T.C.A. Raghavan, about the status of these CBMs, he could not give a definite answer.
“My impression is that none of the CBMs were responded to by Pakistan,” he said, pointing out that some of the CBMs had a bilateral aspect.
On whether the CBMs had been withdrawn by the Indian government, his response was: “I’m not sure of all the details. I need time to ascertain the position.”
A Foreign Office representative was equally uncertain about the fate of these CBMs when contacted by Dawn here on Thursday. His hunch was: “They must have fizzled out.”
Meanwhile, questions about whether these Confidence Building Measures were motivated by a sincere desire for people-to-people contact or whether they were merely a political gimmick “to look good” remain unanswered.
