A rocky road to peace

The positive note hit between the Indian and Pakistani foreign secretaries does not appear to have carried through completely to the talks between the interior ministers of the two countries. But despite what sources describe as some moments when things did not appear to be moving ahead at the desired speed, the agreement between Indian home minister P Chidambaram and his Pakistani counterpart Rehman Malik to move towards putting an end to tensions and continuing dialogue is in itself immensely promising. Till now no Indian minister had visited Pakistan since the events of November 2008 in Mumbai placed a sudden chasm between Islamabad and New Delhi.

The gulf has not yet been completely bridged. Mr Chidambaram made this perfectly clear when he called for action against Hafiz Saeed and his Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), terming the failure to do so a stumbling block in ties. Mr Malik has now promised action will be taken. We must hope this is indeed the case and matters will proceed beyond mere words because the case against those allegedly involved in the Mumbai attacks has been carrying on for almost a year – with no end in sight. As for Hafiz Saeed, the courts recently exonerated him of any involvement in the attacks and he has been set free – after which he has taken upon himself a rather public profile, attending various rallies and political events, in which the leadership of several mainstream religious parties have also been present. All of this is – and quite understandably so – a source of annoyance for India. It is clear that its patience is running out on that score — but there is hope. Conceivably action against the JuD can be tied in with the measures planned against militant groups based in Punjab. India also maintains it has plenty of evidence against the ‘jihadi’ outfits in Pakistan. Perhaps, the sharing of intelligence, that has been alluded to yet again this time around, between the two countries could be used to target the jihadi outfits operating in Punjab (of which there has been clearcut admission by several intelligence agencies).

We must hope though that Islamabad’s efforts to persuade New Delhi to raise its gaze and look beyond militancy will have at least some impact. It is pointless to hold up progress on all other fronts. Pakistan too has its own bones of contention with India; the issue of Balochistan and alleged intervention there was brought up. These matters need to be resolved. But it is important both countries keep in mind the fact that ways forward need to be found wherever possible so that the state of paralysis suffered after November 2008 is avoided.

The agreement to move forward in stages, one step at a time, is an acknowledgement that there is at least a willingness to think along realistic lines. The ministers have agreed on a process of confidence building, which will include measures such as the release of fishermen, measures to tackle issues of prisoners held in each other’s nations and so on. This of course brings up, once more, the old debate: should confidence building measures come first or a bolder effort to take up issues such as Kashmir, on the basis that there can be no lasting peace until these are settled. There are, obviously, no definite answers, no distinct rights or wrongs. But as Mr Chidambaram pointed out the trust deficit between the two countries remains in place. It is important this be filled in one way or the other. Steps that can achieve this are then vital in the present environment.

What is most critical of all is the fact some momentum has been gained. It is important that this carry on, taking us up to the meeting between the foreign ministers in the middle of July. What is vital is that through the series of meetings now underway, the two nations move as fast as possible towards a full normalisation of relations. It appears there is now recognition of the need for this on both sides of the fence and this counts as a vital step in the walk along the road to peace.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2010.