Former Indian army chief’s presence at Pakistan Day event in New Delhi upsets Hurriyat leaders. PHOTO: AFP
An invitation to leaders of Kashmiri separatist All Parties Hurriyat Conference, an umbrella of 26 parties from the disputed Himalayan state, to a Pakistan Day reception held by Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit turned into a media referendum on the Indian approach to resuming stalled dialogue with Pakistan.
The twist in the tale was the presence of Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Gen VK Singh, also a former chief of the Indian army, at the reception as the chief guest.
The most pressing question that arose because of this development was: why had the government sent a representative to an event where the very leaders whose presence in the Pakistan High Commission had angered New Delhi so much that it had cancelled last year’s foreign secretary-level talks were also present?
According to the Hurriyat, there was no terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, only ‘state terrorism’. They reacted strongly to Gen Singh’s presence at the event, accusing his soldiers of massacre of the Kashmiri people.
Dismissive of the charge, the Indian official establishment said the Hurriyat was of no consequence. “The government does not need any third parties to have a dialogue with any country,” said Syed Akbaruddin, official spokesperson for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.
This begs the question as to what exactly the Indian government’s view was on resuming dialogue with the Pakistani government. On the one hand Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted good wishes for Pakistan on its National Day, and on the other, Gen Singh shared the venue with Kashmiri separatists, because of whom dialogue between the two countries had been suspended. Yet it is quite clear that there is much posturing on the part of both India and Pakistan.
Indian diplomats believe that gentle nudges by the US have pushed the Indian government into a more complaisant position. However, the Indian government continues to stick to its position that all unresolved issues should be settled only through dialogue and that there is no place for a third party in the dispute.
Islamabad also believes in resolving all outstanding disputes through talks but says the Kashmiris are a stakeholder in the conflict. At the event, High Commissioner Basit reiterated that Pakistan was keen to settle all issues with India, including the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, through dialogue.
He underlined the importance of PM Nawaz Sharif’s vision of ‘peace for development and development for peace’. He said peace was in the mutual interest of Pakistan and India and it was time to normalise relations and usher in a new era of peace and stability, enabling the two countries to address the challenges facing the region.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 24th, 2015.
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