In harmony with the air of anticipation surrounding their meeting on the sidelines of the Saarc summit, the prime ministers of Pakistan and India, Yousuf Raza Gilani and Dr Manmohan Singh, spoke of a fresh beginning, telling journalists it is time to write a new chapter in the two countries' history. They promised that the next round of talks would be far more productive and far more practical-oriented in bringing the two countries closer. As a matter of fact, serious work on the new chapter has already commenced with Pakistan announcing MFN status for India and the latter reciprocating by withdrawing its objections within the WTO to Pakistan getting preferential access to the EU market and also supporting its bid for a UNSC seat. Two important practical steps in the days to come are commerce and home secretaries meetings scheduled for November and December, respectively. They will aim to sort out trade-related issues and address India's concerns vis-a-vis certain terrorist groups, which it says, are based in Pakistan. These engagements are indicative of substantial progress in bilateral relations. Furthermore, the Indian Foreign Secretary told the media that the two countries had agreed to work for a Preferential Trade Agreement, and to put into place at the earliest a liberalised visa regime - already negotiated - to promote people-to-people contact. From a general Pakistani perspective, though, much welcome as these developments are, in order for the exchanges between the two sides to be equal, India must address the core issue of Kashmir as well as other matters of dispute. According to Gilani, Dr Singh told him he was "ready to discuss each and every issue." More to the point, he said all issues including Kashmir, terrorism, water, Siachen and Sir Creek were discussed. As for the core issue, two important developments indicate some advancement. One is Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram's statement that he gave last week about a cabinet decision to review the implementation of the draconian Armed Force Special Power Act in J&K. Notably, puppet chief minister of the state, Omer Abdullah, has also been making some noises about the scrapping of AFSPA in certain parts of J&K. Secondly, a few days ago, the pro-Pakistan faction of the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference indicated a willingness to talk to New Delhi - something the group thus far had fiercely refused to be any part of unless and until the talks included Pakistan in a trilateral arrangement. The subject came up for comment in Addu as well, where it was said that the Kashmiri leadership will be included in Pak-India discussions when the time comes. As of now, almost all the mainstream parties in Pakistan support the peace process. There is a strong realisation that Kashmir can no longer be resolved through military means, and that it is in the interest of both countries to sit together and sort out all issues of dispute between them. Yet Kashmir is no ordinary dispute; it involves people who have been making huge sacrifices through the last 22 years of their struggle against the Indian rule. Therefore, Pakistan's traditional stance notwithstanding, it is for them to decide their future. Whatever solution is acceptable to the Kashmiris should be acceptable to Pakistan. Copyright Business Recorder, 2011
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