Jilani ‘favours’ peace with India

Pakistan’s top diplomat is in favour of revival of a decade’s old peace plan in an effort to lay out a framework for ending hostilities between the two nuclear-armed nations.

Jalil Abbas Jilani on Friday returned to the Foreign Office but this time as caretaker foreign minister. Jilani served as foreign secretary of Pakistan and Pakistan’s ambassador to important capitals, including the US and the EU.

The plan he was talking about was made during the hay days of former military rulers Gen Pervez Musharraf and India’s former prime minister Manmohan Singh.

It envisaged an ambitious attempt for peace in Kashmir, which has been divided between the two countries since Independence.

Also, Jilani was the deputy high commissioner in New Delhi in 2003, when the Indian government declared him persona non grata after accusing him of funneling funds for separatist activities in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Being the interim foreign policy chief, he may not have enough time and limited mandate to change the course of Pakistan’s foreign policy but he may lay ground for the future government, particularly on how to proceed with India.

Sources close to Jilani told The Express Tribune that he is in favour of improving relations with India.

The foreign minister told The Express Tribune on Thursday that improvement in relations with India was contingent upon the resolution of all outstanding issues, including the long-standing issue of Jammu and Kashmir.

But his public position aside, the sources said, Jilani was of the view that Pakistan should explore different options paving the way for resurrecting the peace process during Musharraf-Manmohan time.

The foreign minister believes that dialogue between the two countries between 2004 and 2007 could be revived provided both the sides showed the political will and resolve.

That peace process was considered the most sustained efforts by the two countries to resolve their festering disputes, including Jammu and Kashmir.

In fact, extensive backchannel talks at the time between the two countries led to the potential road map for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute.

The then foreign minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri was on record as saying that both the sides even shared non-papers on the Kashmir resolution.

The two countries were believed to be close to signing the Siachen and Sir Creek agreements.

It was said the agreements were to be signed during the long pending visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Pakistan in early 2007.

However, Gen Musharraf’s sudden move to remove Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry sparked a lawyers’ movement that eventually led to the ouster of the military ruler.

The sources said Jilani was in the Foreign Office and knew the ground work done by both the sides during that period. Hence, he was convinced that the best way forward for the two sides was to revive that process.

However, the chances of revival of the process appear slim in the foreseeable future because both the countries are heading towards elections.

Nevertheless, there is a possibility that the caretaker government, having the strong backing of the establishment, may lay some groundwork for the future engagement with India.

Observers are skeptical if India would reciprocate given India’s hardline stance on Kashmir and changes it brought to the disputed region in August 2019.