People's Democracy

Indo-Pak Ties

Serious Efforts Required

AS we go to press, Pakistani prime minister, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, appeared unfazed at the Indian prime minister's reported statement that he would not travel to Pakistan. This was conveyed publicly by the BJP spokesman.  The Pakistani premier told the media: "I do not know what the BJP spokesperson has said. My talk with Mr Vajpayee was government-to-government. I can assure you that the statement of the BJP spokesman would not affect the new initiative to get Indo-Pak relations back on the rails. So I do not attach any importance to the statement. I had a detailed, pleasant and frank exchange with Mr Vajpayee for 20 minutes. I did not get the impression that he is not inclined to visit Pakistan." 

Whatever may be the veracity of contending statements, the fact remains that a new initiative to restore India-Pak normalcy will be most welcomed by the peoples of both the countries, as well as have far reaching positive consequences for peace and security in south Asia and the world. This is a direction that all well-meaning people must wholeheartedly support. 

What is intriguing, however, is that while initiating the new diplomatic offensive at Srinagar on April 18, Vajpayee did not attach any conditions.  Four days earlier, speaking at Gangtok on April 14, he set preconditions for any talks with Pakistan, viz, stoppage of cross-border terrorism.  Subsequently, on April 23, in his statement in the parliament, he, once again, set preconditions. Under these circumstances, it is only natural that questions arise regarding the actual motivation of the prime minister's initiative. Did he choose Srinagar to reach out to Pakistan, knowing that the people of Kashmir yearn for a settlement of the dispute with Pakistan once and for all?  Or, was he being pressurised, particularly by the USA, to initiate talks with Pakistan?

Notwithstanding these uncertainties, it is clear that the process of resumption of talks must be carried forward in the interests of both the countries and its people. There are a large number of hurdles that need to be addressed. At the moment, neither country has a high commissioner in its diplomatic mission!  All rail, road and air communications are today not operating. The Pakistani premier has said the revival of contacts can begin in the field of sports.  There are, therefore, going to be serious hurdles and these must be overcome by safeguarding the mutual interests of both the countries as the prime concern. It is also necessary that both sides learn proper lessons from the Agra summit and do adequate homework. A majority of the people in both countries will be looking forward to a positive outcome of these initiatives. 

As regards a solution for the Kashmir problem, we have repeatedly pointed out in these columns earlier that, while negating Pakistan's support to cross-border terrorism is important, there is the other aspect of initiating a political process with the people of Jammu & Kashmir that should be undertaken simultaneously. For, in the final analysis, any end to militancy in Jammu & Kashmir will have to be based on a political solution. Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said last February that "militancy in Kashmir is sustained by the people." Vajpayee's erstwhile cabinet colleague, Omar Abdullah, said early this month that "any solution at the need of the day will have to be worked out between India and Pakistan. But that will have to be acceptable to the people of the state who are at the heart of this issue." 

Any forward movement of this political process will be crucially based on initiating discussions with the elected state government and people's representatives of Jammu & Kashmir on the issue of autonomy. This will necessarily be within the framework of article 370 of the Indian constitution.  On this issue, the country seems to be caught in a classic Catch-22 situation.   The BJP and its mentor, the RSS, continue to oppose article 370 and have declared to abrogate this clause from the constitution at the first opportunity.  Given this, can the Vajpayee government initiate any meaningful political process on the basis of this provision of the Indian constitution? This may, therefore, remain the more insurmountable obstacle for restoring peace and normalcy in the state of Jammu & Kashmir.

It is in the utmost interest of India and its people that both aspects --- an Indo-Pak settlement and the initiation of a political process --- be simultaneously undertaken to arrive at a meaningful and a lasting solution to the Kashmir problem. All obstacles that appear in the way must be removed or overcome. The same applies to the Vajpayee government if it continues to obstruct the initiation of a meaningful political process in the state, given its position regarding article 370.