A good start

The India-Pakistan talks on nuclear risk reduction ended on a positive note on Sunday. One can now hope that the two sides will move towards peace and even if the process is slow it will nevertheless be meaningful and productive.

Although nothing dramatic was announced at the end of the talks, the seven points of agreement listed in the joint statement will be widely welcomed. For instance, the new hotline to be set up between the two foreign offices, in addition to the existing one between the directors-general of military operation, should allow quick communications between the two governments and thus reduce the risk of a nuclear war.

The agreement on observing the moratorium on nuclear testing and notifying the other side of missile tests along with an assurance to continue discussing their nuclear doctrines are confidence-building measures that will facilitate a climate of cordiality and trust between them.

These are important for two reasons. First, the importance of creating confidence between the two countries and minimizing the chances of war between them cannot be over-emphasized.

Given the fact that India and Pakistan now possess nuclear weapons, the need to promote a rapprochement between them has become all the more imperative. It should also encourage them to work towards a nuclear non-proliferation and arms cut agreement in the near future.

Secondly, the improvement of the strategic climate in South Asia will pave the way for negotiations and resolution of the disputes and differences between the two countries.

Next week the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan will be meeting while in August the foreign ministers will hold their round of talks. If concurrently New Delhi and Islamabad can move towards some arms cuts agreement, it would certainly have a positive impact on the dialogue on other issues as well.

It is only now that the two South Asian countries are displaying a level of maturity, for nuclear weapons are not something that can be toyed with or treated perfunctorily.

All nuclear powers, especially those with an adversarial relationship - the US and the USSR of the Cold War years for instance - work out a framework for nuclear restraint.

The idea is to set up a crisis management regime and identify common ground between them in order to reduce the risk of triggering a nuclear war either accidentally or by miscalculation.

Since nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction and their fall-out may affect populations who might not even be involved in a dispute with the country using it, common sense demands that the nuclear arsenal of a country be well-regulated.

Another positive dimension of the seven-point New Delhi statement is that India and Pakistan have for the first time adopted a collective approach on the issue. They have called for regular working-level meetings among all the nuclear powers to discuss issues of common concern.

This should help resolve the anomalies and contradictions which at present mark the international nuclear regime where three nuclear powers, namely, India, Pakistan and Israel, are not even formally recognized as such.

For a nuclear regime to be effective, it is essential that it should include all countries which possess nuclear weapons. Besides, a multilateral approach will work better since the strategic doctrine of governments is at times directed at a number of countries in their neighbourhood.

In any case, the ultimate goal of the elimination of nuclear weapons can only be achieved if all parties possessing them agree on a multilateral arms reduction treaty.

Attack on Sui airport

Terrorists in Balochistan now seem to be becoming more daring. Their latest act of crime against the state is the blowing up of the Sui airport building on Saturday night.

Since the runway and the control tower have remained undamaged, the airport is still functional for the few gas officials who use this otherwise deserted air strip. But this is of little consolation; the real cause for concern is the audacity with which the terrorists struck.

They first planted explosives at the airport building, and then fired no less than 56 rockets. The exchange of fire with the security personnel lasted nearly two hours, but they suffered no known casualties. Whether any attackers were killed is not known.

The authorities have not claimed finding any bodies. The attack on the airport is not the first one on installations connected with gas transmission. For several years now, some unknown elements have been targeting gas pipelines and firing rockets at sensitive installations in Sui.

Who are the political elements behind these attacks can only be guessed. The government itself has refrained from naming any party. But if one sees the attack in a larger perspective, then entire Balochistan looks like turning into a battleground.

Recall, for instance, the frequent attacks motivated by sectarian considerations in Quetta, and the murder of three Chinese engineers at Gwadar. In the airport attack, the crime took place despite the presence of the Frontier Constabulary in the area. The real failure in all these cases is that of intelligence.

Security forces in battle zones can fight back, but they cannot pre-empt a terrorist attack. To be able to do that the intelligence agencies must get on the trail of a group or groups planning to strike somewhere.

It is they who must know who the political or religious elements are who are using terrorists for their purposes. One hopes the provincial authorities will pay greater attention to this aspect of the fight against terrorism instead of placing emphasis on fire power.

Northern Areas' uplift

The allocation of over four billion rupees in the federal budget for the uplift of the Northern Areas is welcome. The money will be used in a number of areas: road works, health, education, building of water reservoirs, upgrading of telecommunications and communication projects, provision of electricity and social services.

The government has also decided to upgrade a number of colleges in Gilgit and Skardu besides setting up information technology centres in the two cities. This is all very well and will fulfil the long-standing demands of the people in those areas.

However, a critical aspect that has still not got the government's attention is employment generation. No specific allocation has been made for this in the federal uplift budget.

While higher education may have seen a boost in some remote areas in recent years, lack of employment opportunities has bred frustration among educated youth, who have to seek work in big cities outside these remote areas.

The problems for the Northern Areas' citizens are compounded as those who do find jobs in the cities have little prospect of returning home, thus spending a lifetime away from homes.

The biggest anomaly about the Northern Areas is the lack of political representation in the provincial or the National Assembly. The special status of these areas has left them in a state of limbo for over five decades now.

Like the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, the Northern Areas are also administered by Islamabad, with the difference that they have no say in their own affairs.

It is time the government initiated a process of integration of these areas into the country's political system by giving them their due representation. Unless that happens, politics of disenchantment and restiveness, as witnessed in the spate of recent protests in Gilgit, will continue.