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NEW DELHI: Former high commissioners from India and Pakistan, in an unusual meeting here on Friday, called for both sides to remain engaged in talks despite the obvious difficulties on the road to peace.
Meeting under the auspices of the Ananta Aspen Centre ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s high-profile visit to Washington in May, the envoys were of the firm view that the recent unofficial meeting between the foreign secretaries of both sides was a positive step towards normalisation of their ties.
A spirit of light-hearted banter infused a brief discussion with India Today TV anchor Karan Thapar on the margins.
One side pointed out that the parties should not become a laughing stock with the world like when Pakistan claimed Kashmir was discussed though the foreign secretaries had only just begun their meeting. The other side intervened to stress that their ties were so tense that a little levity was not bad occasionally.
Pakistan’s former envoys included Salman Bashir, Riaz Khokhar, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, Aziz Ahmad Khan, Dr Humayun Khan and Shahid Malik.
On the Indian side, the recently retired T.C.A. Raghavan was involved in the discussion. His senior colleagues included Sharat Sabharwal, K. Natwar Singh, K. Shankar Bajpai, Satish Chandra, S.K. Lambah, Shivshankar Menon, Satyabrata Pal and G. Parthasarathy.
Jadhav’s arrest
The arrest in Pakistan of Kulbhushan Jadhav, an alleged Indian spy operating from across the border in Iran, and the Pathankot terrorist attack were discussed with no evidence of rancour from either side.
They stopped short of naming the unnamed ‘forces’, however, that seem to prick the balloon of peace whenever it appeared to be airborne.
The organisers of the rare meeting described the occasion as a special discussion that brought together diplomats from both sides of the border who have served in each other’s country since independence. The general consensus was that such meetings should not be one-off events but continue in the future also.
On the future of India-Pakistan relationship, Ambassador Qazi leaned on a Chinese word of caution: “We are living in interesting times. The relationship between India and Pakistan has never been incident-free. We are at the crossroads where we don’t know whether the relations will progress forward or regress, as has happened in the past. In such a situation it is important to restore trust.”
In the context of Pathankot attack and recent visit of Pakistan’s Joint Investigation Team which led to a lot of uproar in India, Mr Menon said, “we are getting mixed signals from Pakistan since Pathankot. It is very early to say what Islamabad’s stance is on the incident. On a positive note, there exists the potential to move things forward on it, provided the political will exists. But there is the broader question of terrorism that looms large. Scope for both sides to progress will only be possible if only there is political will.”
The discussion raised questions on the sudden arrest of Jadhav. Ambassador Bashir said the current contacts between the national security advisers helped contain explosive incidents like Pathankot. In the case of Jadhav both sides should cooperate in the investigation. More communication on such incidents is in the interest of both the countries. It is imperative for both India and Pakistan to be satisfied with the ongoing investigation.”
Ambassador Parthasarathy agreed with his Pakistani counterparts that “espionage should never become a cover for terrorism”. He believed that “the public opinion at present is not in favour of Pakistan. People have had enough of terrorism. PM Modi has no political space to move. Hence, it is in our interest to keep talks away from the glare of media. Let the intelligence chiefs and DGMOs meet.”
Peace on border
Ambassador Lambah, who also held backchannel negotiations with his Pakistani counterpart for former prime minister Manmohan Singh, was of the view that “despite the popular disappointment over the perceived failure of the recent FS talks, the fact that they met is important as there was no contact since the Pathankot incident”.
On the way forward, he said that “dialogue with Pakistan cannot make progress unless we have peace on the border, no terrorism, an early resolution of 26/11 trials and punishing the guilty, be they state or non-state actors”.
Ambassador Aziz Khan differed with his colleagues on the question of civil-military relations in Pakistan.
He was of the opinion that “army plays an important role in Pakistani politics. They have been successful in the security of its people and hence have a say in national security policymaking”. He said the military played just as important a role in India in influencing ties with its neighbours.
The general consensus was in the interest of both the countries to continue talks at all levels. In this regard the meeting between the national security advisers away from the media glare was a step in the right direction.
Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2016
