Towards building confidence

Pakistan is to propose a new series of CBM in the hope of breathing life into the mummified peace process

It appears that the representatives of both India and Pakistan are coming to the foreign secretary-level talks on March 3, 2015 with something positive in their diplomatic bags. Relations have been poor for months, largely because of the outbreaks of firing along the Line of Control (LoC) and some unwise rhetoric that is a further irritant. Sabres have been rattled, trade impeded as trucks were impounded (and later released) and all to no good effect. There is particular concern that the Pakistan Army is being stretched unnecessarily by the tensions as it fights terrorism on the western flank while having to remain on guard to the east. It is strongly rumoured that US President Barack Obama and his administration has twisted arms in India in an effort to unstuck one of the worlds’ most intractable problems. Whatever might have gone on behind the scenes, events are now at least partially visible and in real time. It is being reported that the Pakistan government is to propose a new series of confidence-building measures (CBM) in the hope of breathing life into the mummified peace process.



If this is indeed the case then it is much to be welcomed. It is being reported that the CBMs include a proposal to restore the 2003 ceasefire agreement along the defacto and dejure borders. A further — and interesting if it comes to pass — proposal is that both sides abstain from making statements against each other at the official level, statements which invariably make headline news and have the potential to create unrest in populations that take very little to upset them. Foghorn diplomacy conducted via the respective media is no way to do effective business. We warmly welcome these early positive indicators. However, it should also be realised that CBMs only build confidence when they are seen to work, and making them work outside the rarefied atmosphere of international diplomacy is far from easy. There has to be a reciprocity of political will and an equal determination to ramrod the CBMs rather than allow political ‘drift’ to set in. We hope for a positive outcome, and a peaceful future.

Published in The Express Tribune, March  3^rd,  2015.

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