ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and India set up a cliffhanger ahead of their national security advisers’ (NSAs) dialogue scheduled for Sunday after both refused to budge from their positions on the agenda and a planned meeting of Hurriyat leaders with the Pakistani adviser.

The confusion over the talks that climaxed with Indian news agency PTI’s report about New Delhi calling off the dialogue continued late into Friday night with both sides issuing statements to emphasise their positions and blame the other for the deadlock.

The events in the run-up to the meeting were redolent of a strategy by both sides to compel the other to walk away from the meeting.

The NSA-level talks had been agreed upon by Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif and Narendra Modi during their meeting in the Russian city of Ufa last month.

Both sides refuse to budge from their positions on agenda, Aziz’s meeting with Hurriyat leaders

A final decision on whether or not the two sides would go ahead with the scheduled meeting is likely to be known when Adviser on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz addresses a press conference on Saturday afternoon. The presser was announced late Friday night.

The two sides had been squabbling over Pakistani High Commission’s invitation to Kashmiri Hurriyat leadership for a reception hosted in honour of Mr Aziz on Aug 23 during his visit to Delhi for a meeting with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval.

But things came to a head when Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued on Friday morning a statement advising Mr Aziz not to meet the Kashmiri leaders, besides seeking a confirmation of the agenda it had earlier proposed for the meeting.

“India has advised Pakistan that it would not be appropriate for Mr Sartaj Aziz to meet Hurriyat representatives during his visit to India as it would not be in keeping with the spirit and intent of the Ufa understanding to jointly work to combat terrorism. We have also sought confirmation of our understanding of the agenda for the NSA-level talks that was conveyed to the Pakistani side on Aug 18, 2015,” the MEA statement said.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO), after a consultative session chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and attended by his foreign policy and national security aides, rejected the Indian ‘advice’.

“The foreign secretary conveyed to the Indian high commissioner that it would not be possible for Pakistan to accept this advice,” the FO said.

Accusing India of not being serious in meaningfully engaging with Pakistan, it said the Pakistan government was ready to attend the NSAs meeting without any preconditions.

The Pakistani decision of not cancelling the invitation for Kashmiri leaders was then followed by a stronger statement from the MEA which said it was a ploy to avoid the NSAs meeting.

“Without confirming either the programme or the agenda, the Pakistani high commissioner invited Hurriyat representatives to consult with the visiting NSA. This provocative action was completely in consonance with Pakistan’s desire to evade its commitment at Ufa to engage in a substantive discussion on terrorism,” the MEA said.

The Modi government has been pursuing a strong position on contacts between Hurriyat leaders and the Pakistan government around the bilateral engagements. Delhi had last year refused to attend the foreign secretaries’ meeting on the pretext that the Pakistani high commissioner had consulted Kashmiri leaders before the Islamabad meeting.

“India has always held the position that there are only two stakeholders in our relationship, not three,” the MEA emphasised.

Pakistan’s position, meanwhile, has been that Kashmiris are genuine stakeholders in efforts to resolve the Kashmir dispute.

Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid said India was acting in a fascist manner by objecting to Pakistani high commission’s invitation to Kashmiri leaders for a reception.

AGENDA ROW: The other contentious issue was that of the agenda for the meeting.

While accepting the invitation, the Pakistani side had proposed its agenda for the meeting covering a broader range of issues instead of just terrorism. The agenda was packed with all issues from Kashmir to tourism, release of fishermen and peace and tranquillity on the Line of Control.

The FO said a comprehensive discussion on these issues was must for normalisation of ties to progress.

But the expanded agenda upset the Indians who wanted to restrict the affair to a dialogue on terrorism.

As per the agenda India had proposed to Pakistan on Aug 18 talks were to remain focused on terrorism.

“The Ufa understanding on the talks – read out jointly by the two foreign secretaries – was very clear: the NSAs were to meet to discuss all issues connected to terrorism. This was the only agenda set for them by the two prime ministers,” the MEA insisted.

With these issues unresolved, the two sides launched scathing attacks against each other.

BLAME GAME: Both sides blamed each other for insincerity and attempting to scuttle the process.

“We are deeply disappointed at the statement of the spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, putting forth preconditions for the talks,” the FO said.

Another FO statement said: “India’s insistence to introduce conditionalities and restrict the agenda for the dialogue demonstrates a lack of seriousness on India’s part to meaningfully engage with Pakistan.”

Indians responded by accusing Pakistan of sitting on the invitation for 22 days and then proposing an agenda, which contravened the understanding reached in Ufa. Additionally, it said invitation for Kashmiri leaders was provocative and an excuse to run away.

The MEA said: “The people of both countries can legitimately ask today what is the force that compels Pakistan to disregard the agreements reached by two elected leaders and sabotage their implementation.”

The Pakistani response was that it was India that was to be blamed. “Pakistan does not disregard agreements or understandings. It is the Indian side which has reneged on commitments agreed upon between the two heads of government in the past year.”

SOMETHING COMMON: Despite a dizzying array of allegations and counter-allegations, one thing common in statements issued by both sides was the commitment to dialogue.

“Pakistan has always demonstrated its belief in the dialogue process and is prepared to engage in meaningful talks with India,” the FO said.

The MEA, meanwhile, said: “India remains committed to discussing issues with Pakistan peacefully and bilaterally.”

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2015

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