Daily DAWN
August 02, 2008
LET us hope Yousuf Raza Gilani and Dr Manmohan Singh will be able to achieve what their foreign ministers hope they will be able to when they meet in Colombo today.
The first high-level contact in 15 months between the two countries takes place against a background vitiated by several unsavoury developments. They include the clashes across the LoC in Kashmir, the attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul and a string of bomb blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad. Indian officials have blamed Pakistan for the clashes in Kashmir, held “elements” within the Pakistani establishment responsible for the bombing of the Indian mission in Kabul and said the peace process was “under stress”.
Meeting on the sidelines of the Saarc foreign ministers’ conference in the Sri Lankan capital, Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Pranab Mukherjee said on Thursday that the two prime ministers would come out with “a comprehensive statement” on the issue. While the Indian foreign minister’s attitude was marked by restraint, Qureshi sounded upbeat and said the two prime ministers would “clear the air”.It remains to be seen whether the two prime ministers will succeed in clearing the air.
On the whole, in spite of the unfortunate incidents and the resultant misunderstanding, there is nothing to indicate that either side is willing to abandon the normalisation process. The task before them is to pursue the “composite dialogue” with sincerity and dedication and not let what Qureshi called “minor incidents” overshadow the larger aim. As he told a questioner, Pakistan’s overall contribution to the war on terror should not be overlooked, for Islamabad has nabbed no less than 600 known terrorists.
Virtually all Saarc nations are grappling with the menace of terrorism on their soil, only the intensity of it has varied from country to country. Pakistan’s task is greater, because terrorists are operating on both sides of the Durand Line, and that not only increases Pakistan’s responsibility, Islamabad gets the flak for “not doing enough”, even though Pakistan has deployed 100,000 troops and has suffered thousands of military and civilian casualties. What is missing is mutual trust in the fight against the common enemy.
Pakistan and India have come a long way since the composite dialogue began in February 2004. In fact, some of the confidence-building measures taken by them could not have been visualised even by the most optimistic among us. At their last meeting in New Delhi, the two foreign secretaries, in spite of the barbs exchanged, agreed on more Kashmir-specific CBMs.
Yet more has to be done. Saarc has not been able to turn itself into a vibrant regional grouping because its two major members, Pakistan and India, have not demonstrated the amity needed to make such a grouping a success.
