ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said on Wednesday that Pakistan was open to renaming and restructuring of the composite dialogue with India as long as the bilateral parleys allowed for comprehensive and substantive discussions on contentious issues.

“The (peace process) agenda has to be updated and restructured. The entire process has to be reviewed,” Mr Aziz said at media briefing on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to India for attending the inauguration of his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

The two prime ministers in their talks on Tuesday agreed to a meeting of their foreign secretaries for reviewing and carrying forward the bilateral agenda.

Peace talks between the two countries have remained suspended since January 2013 after the skirmishes along the Line of Control which continued late into the (last) year.

Pakistan has been long pushing for the resumption of the dialogue process to address the issues that have been souring bilateral ties. Islamabad has till recently been favouring the composite dialogue format which was started in 2004 and had eight segments dealing with diverse issues, including Kashmir, peace and security including CBMs, Siachen, Sir Creek, Wullar Barrage project/Tulbul Navigation project, terrorism and drug trafficking, economic and commercial cooperation and promotion of friendly exchanges.

The process was suspended after Mumbai terrorist attacks in 2008. It was later resumed in 2011, but without the composite dialogue title because of reservations by India. Various segments of the dialogue met in 2011 and 2012 before the process once again got stalled last year.

Sartaj Aziz said the restructured talks’ process could allow foreign secretaries of the two countries “to move forward at a different pace and under a different structure”.

He said some of the former (dialogue) segments might be clubbed, while newer ones like water disputes could be added to the talks’ agenda.

The adviser was of the opinion that the composite dialogue format had become redundant. “Lot of time has passed (since the composite dialogue began) and the foreign secretaries will sit down to carry forward the bilateral agenda,” he said.

While there has been a lot of speculation about the new dialogue format, a source disclosed that Prime Minister Sharif had in one of his meetings in Delhi shared his mind about the “new format” which he had been thinking about.

Mr Sharif, according to the source, is proposing to take Kashmir and terrorism out of the official-level talks and place them on the agenda of discussions at the level of political leadership.

Sartaj Aziz said the Indian leadership was equally keen to see the bilateral dialogue resuming. “The Indian prime minister recognised the need for a dialogue process to address all bilateral issues that stand in the way of good relations between the two countries,” he added.

Responding to criticism that Mr Sharif did not raise the issue of Kashmir in meetings with the Indian leadership and did not take out time to see Hurriyat Conference leaders, the adviser said it was a ceremonial trip during which discussions on substantive issues, including Kashmir, were not on the agenda.

He said the prime minister’s acceptance of Mr Modi’s invitation was “based on strategic calculation” of advancing the peace agenda. “Economic agenda which is a priority of both the governments cannot be advanced without peace in the region,” he said, adding that the issue of terrorism had come under discussion.

“We believe that such issues can be handled only through constant interaction between the authorities concerned of the two countries,” he said.

About India’s emphasis on trial of Mumbai attacks accused in Pakistan and terrorism, Mr Aziz said there was nothing new in it. “We have told them that the trial of the accused was a legal process and law would take its own course. Neither did we give any further assurances on Mumbai trial nor did the Indians seek any further assurances,” he said.

Published in Dawn, May 29th, 2014