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OPINION

Krishna-Qureshi Meeting
SARLA HANDOO

Their body language was quite reassuring. They smiled and shook hands. In fact while shaking S.M.Krishna’s hand Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told the media “I am shaking the hand and I am shaking it very firmly.” Equally optimistic were their statements. Krishna told the media that the talks were “useful, constructive and candid.” Qureshi described as “constructive.”

Beneath these photo ops and proclamations the dividing lines were quite clear. If the two leaders could not arrive at any agreement about resumption of the composite dialogue at the two hour long meeting, it is certainly disappointing. But this should not surprise any one. Even before leaving for the United States, both S.M.Krishana and Shah Mehmood Qureshi had said that they do not expect any breakthrough at the meeting. That is because the ground realities are not conducive for resuming the dialogue process.

India has been telling Pakistan that unless it investigates and brings the culprits of Last year’s Mumbai attacks to justice, there is no point in going for the dialogue which, in any case would not be meaningful. Krishna said so this time again in as clear as possible words “that is the least we expect from Pakistan.”

Pakistan, on the other hand, has been dragging its feet from taking action. It did not pursue firmly the case against Hafiz Sayeed in Lahore High Court, leading to his release; it did not arrest him after a red corner notice was issued against him; Even now, Pakistani leaders have been making conflicting statements about whether Sayeed has been arrested or only detained; Islamabad finds 6 dossiers provided to it by India as insufficient evidence to seek a conviction in a court of law. As such it is not taking any tangible action against the militant organizations within Pakistan working against India.

Not only this there is a growing impression that in addition for facilitating infiltration across the LOC in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistani forces are indulging in heavy firing on Indian positions to create a situation of abnormality , to tell the US that it is unable to divert troops to the western front to deal with the Taliban.

At the latest meeting Qureshi told Krishna that Pakistan has arrested 7 persons in connection with the Mumbai attacks and that the trial will begin from October 3. But that list does not include Hafiz Saeed the mastermind of Mumbai terror attacks. Obviously, he has been booked under two different sections, pertaining to what he spoke at a public meeting somewhere in Pakistan. That has nothing to do with his role in Mumbai attacks. This was only to create an atmosphere that Islamabad is taking action against the terrorists.

India has legitimate concerns that the terrorist groups operating out of Pakistan pose a great danger to it and only concrete steps against them would bring confidence in India that Pakistan will not allow the terrorists to use its soil against India. Pakistan has to walk the talk on terror if it wants to have a genuine friendly relationship with India.

This is not the first time India made it clear to Pakistan how serious New Delhi is about its concerns .Only a few days ago Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sent a very strong message to Pakistan when he advised Islamabad to stop using terror as an instrument of state policy. He said India is keen to seek normalizations of relations with Pakistan but its role in terrorism is a major obstacle in India’s efforts to achieve it. Since this is not happening, Krishna was constrained to reject Pakistan’s suggestion of holding back -channel talks as well, for which Qureshi had even made public the name of the former Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan, in an interview to CNN.

A US report leaked to the media last week has pointed out that the Pakistan’s ISI is still helping the Taliban in Afghanistan. If that is the case, Pakistan is clearly playing a double game and this cannot be lost on India.

Nobody can differ with Qureshi when he told the media at New York, “that talks are the only sensible way forward. Any other option can be mutually destructive and suicidal.” But unless such words of wisdom are matched by concrete action on terror front, all this will sound mere rhetoric. Pakistan is desperate to have the dialogue process resumed.

Dialogue for the sake of dialogue will be meaningless. More than the dialogue, it is the quality of dialogue that matters. As Krishna pointed out “a meaningful dialogue needs an environment free from violence”. But the surprising element in this was the time line which Pakistan put on the offer. He said public opinion in Pakistan this time is in favour of a constructive engagement with India but it can harden with the passage of time. If that is the case it is all the more important for Pakistan to make use of the opportunity and stop being on the side of the terror organizations working against India.

One however need not be totally disillusioned. There is always a silver lining even to a darkest cloud. What holds the promise is the impression that Krishna gathered from his meeting with Qureshi. He said Qureshi wants to see the trial through to a logical conclusion. “The minister is very serious and he was representing the Government of Pakistan” he told reporters in New York.

Krishna might have said it symbolically but if Pakistan genuinely wants to shake hands with India it must address New Delhi’s concerns. That alone will turn out to be a real forward movement.

What happens between now and the possible next meeting between the prime ministers of the two countries at Trinidad, where the Common Wealth Heads of Government are to meet in late November, will be keenly watched.



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