Building on momentum

The process of engagement and dialogue set into motion between Pakistan and India by the prime ministers of both countries at Thimphu continues to take root. The latest addition to this multi-layered process is the July 27 meeting between Pakistani and Indian foreign ministers in New Delhi.
The recent interaction at the ministerial level has taken place on the heels of meetings held between foreign, commerce and interior secretaries of both countries. While no great hopes were pinned on the meeting, the outcome, nonetheless, is encouraging and augurs well for the future of talks.
For newly appointed Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Hina Rabbani Khar, the occasion was both momentous as well as the one, which required maturity, deft and diplomatic handling of complex issues and the ability to communicate the country's point of view clearly without being overawed by the 'positives' associated with India.
Overlooking the 'charisma' created by the Indian media about the Pakistani top diplomat, what really struck the observers of Indo-Pakistan relations was the voice of confidence, which manifested itself in the person of Khar. Her reference to 'mindset change' on both sides reflects the desire of the new generation who wants to live in peace and realise their potential for development and prosperity of the region, which has remained condemned to strained relations between Pakistan and India, poverty and unemployment. Her meetings with various elements of the Indian opinion also proved constructive in improving the atmospherics during the dialogue process.
Before the foreign minister's departure for New Delhi, the Prime Minister held intensified discussions with leaderships of all political parties both inside as well as outside parliament and took them into confidence over the broad outline of the government's strategy vis-à-vis the foreign minister's dialogue with India.
The joint communiqué issued after the meeting between both foreign ministers "underlined the need for sustained effort by both countries to build a relationship of trust and mutually beneficial co-operation" and "affirmed the importance of carrying forward the dialogue process with a view to resolving peacefully all outstanding issues through constructive and result oriented engagement, and to establish friendly, co-operative and good neighbourly relations between Pakistan and India."
The Ministers of External and Foreign Affairs "agreed that terrorism poses a continuing threat to peace and security and reiterated the firm and undiluted commitment of the two countries to fight and eliminate this scourge in all its forms and manifestations. Both sides agreed on the need to strengthen co-operation on counter-terrorism including among relevant departments as well as agencies to bring those responsible for terror crimes to justice."
The communiqué said "the number of trading days stand enhanced from two to four days per week. Truck movements shall take place on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, both on Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawalakot routes." Besides this, the resolve to establish a non-discriminatory trade regime between the two countries, including reduction/removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers is one of the high points of the communiqué. In order to give a boost to people-to-people contact between both countries, the ministers "noted with satisfaction the progress made towards finalisation of a revised visa agreement, which would help liberalise the visa regime and facilitate people-to-people, business-to-business and sports contacts."
The peace process would get a tremendous boost if both the countries are able to resolve less irritant issues such as Siachen, Wullar Barrage/Tulbul Navigation Project and Sir Creek as it would form the basis for grappling with bigger problems such as Jammu and Kashmir.
Those who dub the recent interaction as meaningless exercise should know that taking on complex challenges and finding a resolution to them is not possible within months. It would be the outcome of a sustained and productive engagement informed by evolutionary dialogue. The visit of the Pakistani foreign minister built on the momentum and set the stage for more meaningful discussions. The visit needs to be looked at from the perspective of the following angles:
It is a sad reality that India-Pakistan relations have been held hostage to media, right-wing lobbies and non-state actors. This constrained the ability of the governments to show flexibility and adopt non-traditional approaches to find lasting solutions to the intractable issues. Whenever any interaction took place, the media hyped things up in a manner that outcome never matched the expectations. The tendency of simplifying the India-Pakistan narrative has also been a hindering factor. The failure of the Agra Summit is a case in point.
Likewise, the fact that India remained stuck to the dialogue process as per schedule despite the bomb blasts in Mumbai is admission of what the government of Pakistan has been saying to India that peace process must be de-linked from terrorism and pursued independently. The terrorists have been trying their level best to use violence to damage the relations between both countries. The attack on Indian parliament building in December 2001 and in Mumbai on November 26, 2008 is a case in point. These twin incidents almost brought both countries in an eyeball to eyeball confrontation with each other. But for the active role played by the US to defuse the crisis, the hostilities might have broken out to the complete annihilation of Pakistan and India.
Therefore, instead of expecting miraculous results, we must support the process. The more the governments wrest initiative from the hands of non-state actors, the more the chances of success of dialogue. The visit of Pakistani Foreign Minister must be seen in this perspective.