Basit provides an opening for India, Pak to re-engage
Pakistan high commissioner Abdul Basit may have just provided the opening for India and Pakistan to re-engage after the NSA-level talks were called off at the eleventh hour last month. Top level South Block sources said India could even contemplate a “return to the spirit of Ufa”.
In an interaction with journalists for a TV programme, the Pakistani envoy said, “The fundamental reason for the cancellation of talks was that we differed on the interpretation of the Ufa agreement. We never wanted to broaden the agenda. We wanted the NSAs to speak only on terrorism, and we had many things to discuss on that. But we wanted to use the opportunity to discuss the way forward as well.”
This is a very different line from the one used by the Pakistan foreign policy adviser Sartaj Aziz a few days ago. When questioned, he had said, “No serious talks with India are possible without discussion on the core issue of Kashmir.”
During her press conference which sealed the fate of the NSA talks, foreign minister Sushma Swaraj had said India did not “shy away” from talks on Kashmir but they could not be part of the NSA talks. She added that the first talks could segue into discussions on other issues.
Both Basit’s comments and India’s response, albeit off record, provide the first signs that both sides may be hitting reboot on what was a bruising bout through July and August. Next week’s security talks between the BSF and Pakistan Rangers are still on track. It’s not yet clear whether the DGMOs will meet as well to look for ways to quieten the borders.
Neither side has mentioned a possible New York meeting between Modi and Sharif. But many believe it would be the best way to break the ice and go back to what is now being called the “spirit of Ufa”. At Ufa, the idea was for India and Pakistan to go back to a phase of broad engagement. But things swiftly went south, both as a result of the heightened cross-border violence and two terror attacks in Gurdaspur and Udhampur. Also, Pakistan’s civilian leadership was perceived to have failed to deal with internal pressure on their decision to hold talks on terrorism but not on Kashmir.
The MEA statement on August 21 said, “The Ufa understanding on the talks – read out jointly by the two foreign secretaries – was very clear: the NSAs were to meet to discuss all issues connected to terrorism. This was the only agenda set for them by the two Prime Ministers.” It’s clear that PM Narendra Modi wants a greater degree of engagement with Islamabad, and was reportedly unhappy about Islamabad’s regression after the Sharif team landed back from Ufa and was confronted by an angry Army-ISI and a hostile media reception.
To be fair, India’s attitude in the last few days before the NSA talks showed little sophistication. The Indian insistence on Pakistan being the one to call off the talks added to the bitterness and sharp rhetoric. The government –from PMO to the home ministry — was remarkably liberal with its dossiers on Dawood Ibrahim to journalists, some of which was apparently inaccurate. Pakistani media reported that one address for Dawood given by India actually belonged to Pakistan’s ambassador to the UN Maleeha Lodhi.
But on the face of it, there seems to be little ‘give’ from Pakistan. On Wednesday, Sharif was reported as having said that India’s alleged ceasefire violations were a threat to regional peace. “The violations (by India) have increased and spread from LoC to the working boundary. I think they are serious threat to the peace of the region.”
“We will continue to highlight the issue of Kashmir until it is resolved according to the wishes of people of Kashmir,” he said.
