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NEW DELHI: India and Pakistan continue to have the power to surprise. Just when it appeared that the Narendra Modi government may have lost the narrative on Pakistan, the two governments managed to stop the slip sliding away of the bilateral relationship. The four-hour meeting in Bangkok on Sunday was fixed on Thursday.
Foreign secretary S Jaishankar joined NSA Ajit Doval on his return journey from Tokyo where he went to work on the India-Japan nuclear deal before Abe's visit here later this week.
There are five takeaways from the Bangkok meeting of the national security advisers Ajit Doval and Nasir Janjua, and foreign secretaries, S Jaishankar and Aizaz Ahmed:
First, both countries are done with their grandstanding, and after months of harsh rhetoric and a diplomatic sulk, they have come to the conclusion that engagement is the better part of valour. After a joint statement in Ufa which was rejected in Pakistan and started a bitter exchange on whether to hold NSA talks first, or foreign secretaries talks on the now discarded composite dialogue. The end was unnecessarily painful, aggravated by intense media pressure. It seemed India and Pakistan would go nowhere in the foreseeable future. The meeting in Paris between Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif, more scripted than an impromptu chat directed officials to continue the momentum by getting the official meetings under way before the week was out.
Second, both countries climbed down to make this happen. India needed talks to be on terrorism, which it was. Doval and Janjua discussed all aspects of terror and instability, including looking at the Kashmir issue from the terror angle. On the other hand, India gave in to a Pakistan demand to hold simultaneous FS talks on Kashmir. If after Ufa elements in the Indian side believed they could hold talks with Pakistan on terrorism without Kashmir, they no longer believe it. On Pakistan's side, they made up for their oversight in Ufa, but gave in to India's insistence on talks on terrorism.
Third, meeting in Bangkok overcomes the Hurriyat hurdle. The Pakistanis are spared the pressure of meeting the separatists and the Indians are spared the necessity of shutting that down.
Fourth, a third country keeps an intrusive, polarized and high decibel sub-continental media at bay. Over the years, successive Indian and Pakistani governments have blamed the media for vitiating the atmosphere and making things difficult for them. Through 2004-2007, back channel talks between Indian and Pak special envoys were held in Bangkok, Dubai etc worked only because they were quiet. Modi government has taken this further by holding official talks outside. In fact, in July, as Modi landed back in Delhi after Ufa, he was greeted with screaming headlines that already threatened the proposed talks. He was heard telling an official, "issey band karaiye." (Stop this kind of press coverage.)
Fifth, the talks prepares the ground for Sushma Swaraj's trip to Islamabad next week. Modi is now more than likely to be in Islamabad for the Saarc summit in 2016. In addition, India can remove the bilateral problem from the table when the world discusses a solution to Afghanistan.
Since Ufa, Pakistan army chief, Raheel Sharif removed Sartaj Aziz as NSA and put in his own man, Nasir Janjua on the job. Which is good for India because it means Doval would be talking directly to the powerful Pak army representative. This is important given the army's role in Pak foreign policy.
Source: Five takeaways from the meeting of India, Pakistan NSAs in Bangkok - The Times of India
Long time no see a well written article by TOI.
Foreign secretary S Jaishankar joined NSA Ajit Doval on his return journey from Tokyo where he went to work on the India-Japan nuclear deal before Abe's visit here later this week.
There are five takeaways from the Bangkok meeting of the national security advisers Ajit Doval and Nasir Janjua, and foreign secretaries, S Jaishankar and Aizaz Ahmed:
First, both countries are done with their grandstanding, and after months of harsh rhetoric and a diplomatic sulk, they have come to the conclusion that engagement is the better part of valour. After a joint statement in Ufa which was rejected in Pakistan and started a bitter exchange on whether to hold NSA talks first, or foreign secretaries talks on the now discarded composite dialogue. The end was unnecessarily painful, aggravated by intense media pressure. It seemed India and Pakistan would go nowhere in the foreseeable future. The meeting in Paris between Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif, more scripted than an impromptu chat directed officials to continue the momentum by getting the official meetings under way before the week was out.
Second, both countries climbed down to make this happen. India needed talks to be on terrorism, which it was. Doval and Janjua discussed all aspects of terror and instability, including looking at the Kashmir issue from the terror angle. On the other hand, India gave in to a Pakistan demand to hold simultaneous FS talks on Kashmir. If after Ufa elements in the Indian side believed they could hold talks with Pakistan on terrorism without Kashmir, they no longer believe it. On Pakistan's side, they made up for their oversight in Ufa, but gave in to India's insistence on talks on terrorism.
Third, meeting in Bangkok overcomes the Hurriyat hurdle. The Pakistanis are spared the pressure of meeting the separatists and the Indians are spared the necessity of shutting that down.
Fourth, a third country keeps an intrusive, polarized and high decibel sub-continental media at bay. Over the years, successive Indian and Pakistani governments have blamed the media for vitiating the atmosphere and making things difficult for them. Through 2004-2007, back channel talks between Indian and Pak special envoys were held in Bangkok, Dubai etc worked only because they were quiet. Modi government has taken this further by holding official talks outside. In fact, in July, as Modi landed back in Delhi after Ufa, he was greeted with screaming headlines that already threatened the proposed talks. He was heard telling an official, "issey band karaiye." (Stop this kind of press coverage.)
Fifth, the talks prepares the ground for Sushma Swaraj's trip to Islamabad next week. Modi is now more than likely to be in Islamabad for the Saarc summit in 2016. In addition, India can remove the bilateral problem from the table when the world discusses a solution to Afghanistan.
Since Ufa, Pakistan army chief, Raheel Sharif removed Sartaj Aziz as NSA and put in his own man, Nasir Janjua on the job. Which is good for India because it means Doval would be talking directly to the powerful Pak army representative. This is important given the army's role in Pak foreign policy.
Source: Five takeaways from the meeting of India, Pakistan NSAs in Bangkok - The Times of India
Long time no see a well written article by TOI.
So even If Pak NSA somehow doesn't know this which I very much doubt- the talk is useless and is falling on deaf ears- But yes they can facilitate talk by an elected representative from here and whosoever from Pakistan for talks on Kashmir-
