Friendly words

For a very long time now, indeed since the Mumbai attacks of 2008, there has been a distinct element of tension as far as ties between India and Pakistan go. Even when dialogue has taken place, it has frequently run into barriers and blockades of all kinds.

For this reason, the assurance by Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar on her return home from a crucial meeting in New Delhi with her Indian counterpart that this time talks would not stop is extremely reassuring. The foreign minister, who appears to have handled her first assignment extremely well, has continued the tone noted immediately after the talks on both sides and expressed a desire for a better future in terms of relations between both countries. We certainly hope that Ms Khar will remain committed over the future months to this ideal of dialogue with India and a closing of the gap that exists between the two countries. For this, she needs the support of all elements and institutions within her own country. Indeed, this also holds true for India, where an equal number of hawks have, through the decades, made their attempts to hold back the peace process. The governments on both sides need to work on how to neutralise these elements and keep them at bay.

While the omens seem good, there is also some need for caution. In an unusual statement, the Indian Foreign Office has said that “inferences” about satisfaction being expressed over the Mumbai investigation were inaccurate. It is important not to allow any breach of the trust that has been built up between the two sides. In this sense, Hina Rabbani Khar also did well to meet the opposition leaders and other political figures in India, helping her to establish the kind of understanding vital to building solid ties. For the sake of the people of both countries who could benefit so greatly from peace, we must hope the foreign minister is correct when she says the process of discussion and dialogue will not again be interrupted as efforts to repair the damage of the past are speeded up.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 30^th,  2011.