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Singh-Gilani talks get mixed reception in India

By Iftikhar Gilani

NEW DELHI: The outcome of the India-Pakistan talks in the Egyptian city of Sharm El Sheikh has been received in India with mixed response. Experts believe the joint statement issued after the summit-level talks between Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and his Indian counterpart Dr Manmohan Singh was ambiguous and left to the interpretation of both the governments to address their respective audiences.

While the officials and the ruling Congress party were gloating that Singh had succeeded in keeping the Kashmir issue out of talks and narrowed focus on terrorism, a section of experts and the opposition maintained that de-linking terrorism from the talks was disappointing. Security expert Manoj Joshi believed Pakistan had succeeded in getting what it wanted from the talks, saying it almost seemed as if the joint declaration between the two countries was made “just for the sake of it”. There is no credibility in (Pakistani Prime Minister) Gilani’s commitments to India, he added. Former diplomat G Parthasarthy, however, reacted cautiously, but said the PM would lose face in case of another terrorist attack. Officials in India were, however, rejoicing that for the first time since the composite dialogue process’ format was agreed upon between the two sides in June 1997, Kashmir would not be a major factor.

After the Simla agreement in 1973, Kashmir had almost disappeared from the India-Pakistan discourse. But it made a comeback in the early 90s after India agreed to discuss Kashmir, interpreting it as discussing issues related to militancy and cross-border terrorism. After the exit of the Narasimha Rao government, the next Indian prime minister IK Gujaral and then Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif, agreed to form a separate working group on Kashmir in 1997 on the sidelines of a SAARC summit. The arrangement continued until Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited Islamabad in 2004 and agreed to find a solution to the Kashmir issue. While Pakistan considered it a huge success – finding a lasting solution to Kashmir had reappeared in the dialogue process – India took solace in Pakistan’s commitment not to allow its territory to be used against India. At the last interaction of leaders on April 18, 2005 in New Delhi, the joint statement said the two leaders addressed the Kashmir issue and agreed to continue dialogue in a sincere and purposeful way for a final settlement.

Goals clear: Noted expert on Kashmir and Pakistan affairs AG Noorani believed both sides had travelled a distance and were now clear of their goals. There was not much to do on Kashmir except to implement the understanding, he added.

On the inclusion of Balochistan and other areas in the joint statement, senior Indian officials said they had nothing to hide. If Pakistan believed someone from the Indian side was creating trouble for them, they were more than willing to clear the misunderstanding, they added.

Meanwhile, both sides had also agreed on sharing credible and actionable information on any future terrorist threats with intelligence agencies of both countries remaining constantly in touch.

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