

Indian Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar was in Pakistan as a part of the round he is making of the Saarc nations. It is of note that Pakistan is to chair the next Saarc summit in 2016 and a way-paving visit for this event was necessary. At the same time, it was also opportune in terms of repairing relations between the neighbours. India and Pakistan agreed to maintain “peace and tranquillity” along the Line of Control and the Working Boundary and there does seem to have been at least a flagging of issues on both sides without addressing any of them in such a way as might be construed as moving towards a resolution.
The press statement that was released by Mr Chaudhry was as anodyne as the press conference but it at least got the bullet-points out in the public domain, indicating that issues that are rarely spoken of got an airing. In broad terms we welcome this latest diplomatic move but it cannot be a stand-alone event. It needs to be displayed that this visit by the Indian foreign secretary was really a precursor to a linear process of peace-building and reconciliation. The problem of relations between India and Pakistan is long acknowledged as one of the reasons why Saarc as an organisation has failed to meet expectations. Let us use the time between now and the next Saarc moot to move beyond talks about talks and into something more substantial. But for now — this is better than nothing.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 5th, 2015.
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