Pakistan-India relations: Diplomacy afoot to iron out differences

FM Qureshi expected to visit India early next year.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and India are working quietly to iron out their differences on issues that have so far prevented the resumption of stalled peace process between the nuclear armed-neighbours.

“If the two countries succeed in breaking the ice through quiet diplomacy, Foreign Minister Qureshi will visit India early next year,” disclosed a senior Pakistani diplomat.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi was due to visit New Delhi this month at the invitation of his Indian counterpart SM Krishina. However, differences between the two sides on the agenda of the talks have thrown the crucial trip in doubt.

The foreign office official told The Express Tribune that Islamabad wants a clear roadmap for the composite dialogue while New Delhi links it with the progress on the prosecution of suspects of the Mumbai attacks, which India blamed on the Pakistan based militant outfit, Lashkar-e-Taiba.

“The next couple of weeks are very crucial,” the official said, adding, “We are keeping our fingers crossed at this stage.”

In an interview on Monday, the Indian home secretary said Pakistan’s efforts to persecute those behind the Mumbai attacks are a “façade”, with Islamabad concerned that senior government officials might be implicated.

The two countries have had high-level contacts since the Mumbai attacks but New Delhi’s insistence on discussing only terrorism-related issues hampered the progress, said another official.

He said that the two countries almost reached an agreement at the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York in September this year, but change of heart by New Delhi at the last minute prevented not only the deal but also a meeting between the two foreign ministers.

“It was a repeat of the Agra Summit when everything was ready but India backtracked at the last moment,” disclosed Foreign Minister Qureshi recently at a meeting of the Senate’s foreign relations committee.

The Agra summit took place in 2001 between the then president Pervez Musharraf, and the then Indian PM Atal Behari Vajpayee. The two leaders were ready to announce an agreement, but the talks collapsed when India changed its position and refused to mention Kashmir in the joint statement.

“We are trying to make sure that the visit should be meaningful and result-oriented,” said the foreign office official.

The two foreign ministers last met in July this year in Islamabad but failed to agree on a roadmap to the revival of the peace process.Both sides blamed each other for the failure of talks.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 9^th, 2010.