Pakistan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Dr Maleeha Lodhi has listed five key points which according to her are critical to sustain the ongoing peace process with India.
Delivering a talk on Pakistan-India relations: Challenges and Opportunities at Goodenough College, Central London, on Thursday evening, she said sustainability of dialogue is the key challenge in a dynamic if uncertain global environment.
She listed the five points as preservation of agreements and CMBs instituted so far, promoting resolution of disputes so that the peace process moves from the CMB to the conflict resolution stage, a problem solving approach adopted by both sides, principle of reciprocity guiding and defining the talks and political contact at a sufficiently high level to manage issues and keep the process moving.
The High Commissioner explained in details the state of relationship between the two countries and said the political environment in South Asia today is characterised by an ambience of hope, anticipation and opportunity. "Our region has witnessed intense diplomatic engagement between Pakistan and India since the military stand-off of 2001-2002."
However, Dr Lodhi said from the depths of confrontation and crises, Pakistan and India have been able to take a series of confidence building measures to establish a modicum of stability to their relations.
She noted that the new environment has been marked by six features. These include strong popular sentiment in favour of peace and normal relations in the two countries, manifest sense in both countries that there is no military solution to the Kashmir dispute or to other problems, recognition at both the popular and official levels that neither country can achieve its full economic potential or achieve prosperity for its people while engaged in confrontation, recognition that the two countries need to carefully manage their relations in a nuclearized environment and have concluded that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought, affects of globalisation unleashing new dynamics and shaping Pakistani and Indian political perceptions fuelled by desire of economic prosperity and growth, keenness on both sides and encouragement by the international community to solve problems through dialogue.
Elaborating further, the High Commissioner said since the Islamabad communique of January 6, 2004, the cease-fire on the LOC has continued to hold since December 2003, unprecedented people-to-people contact with about 100,000 people visiting each other country in 2005, uninterrupted completion of three rounds of the composite dialogue, agreement on a number of CMBs, and the willingness to discuss economic co-operation signalled by continuing talks on the multinational gas pipeline project.
She also spoke about the increase in the bilateral trade which has now touched just over a billion dollars with the balance of trade in favour of India. Speaking about Kashmir, she said the composite dialogue has entered its most delicate and perhaps defining phase because unless the talks can begin to address this issue, relations will remain susceptible to future relapse into tensions and even confrontation.
She said Pakistan and India have agreed to explore possible solutions to Kashmir adding that President Pervez Musharraf has offered ideas on possible approaches to a Kashmir solution including an interim solution, pending a final settlement.
Maleeha told the audience that demilitarisation of major Kashmiri towns and a halt in human rights violations against the Kashmiri people can persuade them to disavow armed resistance and opt for peaceful and political means to secure their rights and aspirations.
She spoke of Pakistan's concerns over the Indo-US nuclear deal saying that it has serious implications for the regional stability." In our view a package approach for India and Pakistan rather than the discriminatory one would help to avert a nuclear arm race in the region, promote restraint and preserve strategic stability while also ensuring that the legitimate needs of both countries for civilian nuclear power generation are met."
The High Commissioner said Safta arrangements under Saarc can be exploited fully only when there is substantive progress in resolving the political disputes.