Meaningful dialogue with India

A little over a year ago — in January 2013 — India-Pakistan skirmishes across the Line of Control had stoked fears of an escalation of hostilities, until better counsel prevailed and the two sides dialled down the tension. The enduring conflict that is known as the Kashmir issue, over which India and Pakistan have fought three wars, is a veritable tinderbox ready to burst into flames at the slightest provocation. Mindful of the gravity of the matter, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on February 5 revived his offer of a meaningful dialogue to India to settle the long-festering conflict. His emphasis that he is open to any proposal on the Kashmir dispute is emblematic of his desire to find a solution earlier rather than later. Seizing the moment afforded by the Kashmir Solidarity Day, he trotted out all the old chestnuts and the usual platitudes. Which is fine as long as the words are backed up by tangible action. Mere rhetoric in this case will not do. We welcome the premier’s fresh call for dialogue to India and sincerely hope that the ice will finally be broken.



Kashmir, let this be pointed out, is in one respect more of a problem for India than it is for Pakistan. The world’s biggest democracy has miserably failed to resolve its dispute with what it claims to be its integral part without the use of brute force. And this continues to bleed the occupied territory. In pressing ahead with the unfinished Kashmir agenda, the prime minister should try to build on whatever progress was made during his predecessor’s time. General (retd) Pervez Musharraf couldn’t move forward as he didn’t have the required mandate, but Nawaz Sharif does have that requisite electoral backing and he should take advantage of that. We, at the same time, concede that India has some justified demands that should be addressed before the dialogue process can move forward meaningfully, such as pursuing the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack.

We should also be mindful of the fact that there will soon be a new government in India and, hopefully, that government will have the mandate to move forward on bilateral relations, too.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 7^th,  2014.

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