ISLAMABAD, March 14: The two-day foreign secretary-level talks between Pakistan and India ended here on Wednesday on an upbeat note, with a significant decision to hold discussions on the respective security doctrines of the two countries.
Addressing a joint press conference, Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan and his Indian counterpart Shiv Shankar Menon sounded confident that the fourth round of the peace dialogue would lead to considerable progress on all issues, including Jammu and Kashmir.
“It is agreed that there should be a regular expert-level discussion on doctrines for ensuring security in an environment of strategic deterrence that is maintained by the two countries and that is a fact of life in South Asia,” Mr Khan announced at the outset.
Both the foreign secretaries appeared to be on the same wavelength and emphatically conveyed that there was political will at the top in both the countries to break out of the patterns of the past to move ahead on issues. They noted significant improvement in relations by the dialogue process and underscored that never before the two countries had such “sustained and focused” discussions on Jammu and Kashmir as they had had since 2004 at multiple levels.
An important outcome of the meeting was a green signal from the Indian side for a meeting next month on the Siachen issue between the defence secretaries. India has proposed to hold talks in the first week of April.
The Indian side has also proposed dates for all meetings to be held under the composite dialogue between April and July. This includes dates for the meeting of hydrographers of the two sides to complete their survey of Sir Creek and adjoining areas. Pakistan would confirm the dates shortly, Mr Khan said.
The two sides agreed to specific steps to move ahead on a host of CBMs aimed at improving the comfort-level of the Kashmiris on both sides of the divide. The 13 steps were announced by Riaz Mohammad Khan at the press conference.
Pakistan proposed some new cross-LoC CBMs, including helicopter service between Muzaffarabad and Srinagar, sports events among the Kashmiris and postal service between the divided Kashmir.
India proposed the Kargil-Skardu route for a bus service and the Pakistani side agreed to consider it. Referring to the proposal, Mr Menon said: “We will, therefore, now start looking at logistics and modalities of operationalising this.”
A joint statement issued after the talks outlined all the important decisions taken at the meeting, including an agreement to propose drafts for establishment of new border control guidelines along the International Border. Other measures include expediting negotiations to conclude an agreement on prevention of incidents at sea, fully observe the ceasefire, conclude and sign agreements on modalities for the conduct of quarterly flag meetings at the sectors, on speedy return of inadvertent line crossers, on no-development of new posts and defence works along the LoC.
On Jammu and Kashmir, the two sides agreed to ensure implementation of the already agreed CBMs, operationalisation of truck service and operationalisation/rationalisation of five crossing points.
The two sides decided to conclude during the current round the bilateral visa agreement, agreement on consular access, and revise the protocol on visits to religious places.
It was also agreed that the committee on prisoners composed of four retired judges from each side would ensure humane treatment and expeditious release of prisoners on both sides.
Mr Menon’s response to a query indicated that it would not be before a few months that the committee of judges constituted to address the issue would meet.
KASHMIR: Mr Menon refused to be drawn into a debate on Indian government’s position on the specific proposals made by President Musharraf on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir. “This is not the place to start reiterating all the various ideas which are on the table. I think the important thing is that we are engaged in a very intensive dialogue and it is our intention to bring this dialogue to a successful conclusion,” he told a questioner. “We seek a settlement of all outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir.”
Mr Menon’s message to the sceptics was: “If you look at what we have achieved and how far we have come, that actually gives me great confidence in future.”
In reply to a query, he said it was not possible for him to give a timeframe for when the sustained dialogue would produce concrete results but noted that both the sides were trying their utmost to resolve the divisive issues “as soon as possible”.
Responding to a question on Jammu and Kashmir, Mr Khan declared: “It is our belief and we are confident that once we are able to address this longstanding issue between us successfully it would turn a new chapter in relations between the two countries and also in the environment in South Asia.”
He said on Jammu and Kashmir discussions were taking place at various levels and observed: “There have been many ideas which have shaped the broad parameters of these discussions.”
DEMILITARISATION: On President Musharraf’s proposal of demilitarisation which has been part of the general and official discourse on Jammu and Kashmir, Mr Khan said it was a serious idea which must be considered as it would increase the comfort-level of the Kashmiris.
However, Mr Menon’s view on this was: “Demilitarisation in a generic sense is an idea which many people feel is a good idea. But quite frankly from the government of India’s point of view this is a function of the situation on the ground, on the levels of threat and violence that exist there.”
SIACHEN: On Siachen, Mr Menon said the two sides had for some time been looking at a set of ideas, some of which India brought to the table. “What we would like to do is to hold a meeting of the defence secretaries, DGMOs together as soon as possible to try and clarify to see whether we can come to an agreement on Siachen.”
ANTI-TERROR MECHANISM: Both the officials noted the significance of the joint anti-terrorism mechanism which met last week in Islamabad and reiterated the importance of implementation of commitments in this regard.
SAMJHOTA TRAGEDY: Mr Khan said that he reiterated Pakistan’s request for sharing of findings on the Samjhota Express terrorist incident. He said Pakistan had received a list of additional passport numbers for which the holders remained unidentified.
Mr Menon while pointing out that even the 19 of those who perished in this tragedy remained unidentified said: “We will be working jointly with the Pakistan side to identify who the holders of these passports are.”
He said the Indian authorities had kept DNA samples of 19 victims of the tragedy who remained unidentified and added that if there were any relatives or anybody interested in Pakistan who felt they might have information and would like to check should contact the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.
VISA REGIME: Responding to a question about the liberalisation of visa regime, Mr Khan maintained that the new agreement would be a great improvement on the existing visa regime, adding that a provision of ‘group tourist visas’ was also under active consideration.
JINNAH HOUSE: Responding to a question about the Jinnah House, the Indian foreign secretary said: “I think as of now there are other issues related to it. We would like to see a use of the (Jinnah) House which takes into account the sentiments of all the people of the subcontinent because he (Mohammad Ali Jinnah) was a citizen of the subcontinent too. So we would like to find a solution which works for all of us.”
BAGLIHAR: Asked when India would implement the verdict given by the World Bank-appointed neutral expert on the Baglihar dam, Mr Menon said: “We are going ahead with the implementation of the project on the basis of the verdict.”
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