Inching forward

The threshold for success at yesterday’s talks between the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan in New Delhi was set so low that it becomes impossible to describe them as a failure. Everyone knew going in that these talks were merely a precursor for further negotiation and would not produce any significant breakthroughs on their own. This is reflected in the joint statement issued after the talks between Hina Rabbani Khar and SM Krishna. Apart from a few specifics on trade and visa issues, the document shows that the talks merely aspired to success and did not actually manage to get there. Terrorism, the one issue that has stalled the peace process above all else, merited only a few words in the statement, as did the Kashmir dispute. This is a sign that India and Pakistan are no closer to an agreement on these matters than they were before Khar landed in New Delhi.

The talks themselves threatened to be derailed on the very first day of Khar’s visit, when she met with Kashmiri leaders. Her meetings annoyed the Indians, who have no desire to discuss the Kashmir issue and who see any Pakistan involvement in the disputed valley as a hindrance to the normalisation of relations. But Khar has a delicate balancing act to achieve. Given her gender, relative youth and inexperience, Pakistan’s notoriously male and aged establishment would be worried that she may give the house away. The talks with the Kashmiri leaders were meant as a sop to the anti-India brigade, a lobby that a new foreign miniser must appease, at least initially.

Just how little was achieved at the summit is demonstrated by the fact that the talks themselves were a sideshow obscured by Khar’s star power. In just one day, she has become a bona fide celebrity in India, not for her diplomatic skills but for her looks, sense of style and pricey handbags. If Khar can similarly dazzle everyone with her diplomatic skills, she may not be the liability as foreign minister that some initially feared. Right now, though, she has achieved a victory for style over substance. The same can be said for a summit that made world headlines without actually achieving much in the way of progress.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 28^th, 2011.