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Journalism of Courage
New Delhi, December 5: India rejected today the role of any “third party” in talks both between the Centre and the Kashmiris as well as separately between New Delhi and Islamabad, although it seems that the government may not be averse to allowing the Hurriyat to visit Pakistan and talking to Pakistani militants here.
In a carefully worded statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs today, the government said it was “committed” to the peace process and would “remain steadfast” in its approach.
Clearly, New Delhi is so far pleased with the fact that violence as well as terrorism has substantively come down in the Kashmir valley but is crossing its fingers about the fact that the peace will keep.
If it does, then by the end of the Ramzan month, it seems possible that representatives from the Kashmiri militant groups could be allowed to go across to Islamabad. Vice-versa, members of Pakistani militants could well be allowed to come to India for discussions. Both steps would substantively take Prime Minister A B Vajpayee’s latest peace initiative forward.
Government sources, sounding a cautionary note, however pointed out that much could happen between now and the end of the Ramzan month. The MEA statement also insisted that Pakistan must show faith and “address our concerns and also those of hte international community about cross-border terrorism, infiltration into India and aiding and abetment of violence.”
Since the peace initiative has been personally authored by the Prime Minister himself, New Delhi nevertheless seems willing to give Pakistan a long rope to return to the negotiating table with India.
Interestingly, by referring to the “international community” in its statement, the government has neatly though indirectly indicated that Islamabad is under considerable pressure to substantively reduce cross-border terrorism.
India’s High Commissioner to Pakistan Vijay Nambiar is in town to discuss and fine tune New Delhi’s strategy and how it should deal with the various elements in play. Hurriyat leaders this evening also met Pakistan High Commissioner Ashraf Qazi.
The MEA statement, in fact, broadly reiterated the government’s earlier line towards dialogue with Pakistan, asking it to “clearly reaffirsm” its adherence to the Shimla agreement as well as the Lahore declaration. By ceasing cross-border terrorism, the statement said, Pakistan would be creating an environment for “resumption of the composite dialogue.”
