INDO PAK DOCUMENTATION (PAKISTAN)
PAKISTAN
Dawn
May 25
Editoria l: Invitation for talks
AT LONG last, India
has done what it should have done long ago - invite Pakistan for talks on
issues of difference. While Islamabad has said it will respond positively to
the invitation, two significant points in the Indian external affairs
minister`s statement need to be noted. First, the key sentence in Mr Jaswant
Singh`s statement carefully avoids the word Kashmir. It says, "in
pursuance of Lahore Declaration and Simla agreement, the prime minister has
decided to invite Gen. Musharraf to visit India at his early convenience."
Secondly, Mr Singh took the occasion to remove the fig-leaf of a cease-fire in
Kashmir which New Delhi had announced last November. In fact, the statement
blames "terrorists" - Indian euphemism for freedom fighters - for the
failure of the so-called cease-fire which was more illusory than real. However,
to sugar coat the announcement annulling the cease-fire, New Delhi has come up
with the talks offer. Pakistan`s immediate reaction was that it would respond
positively to the Indian invitation. As Foreign Secretary Inamul Haq told PTV,
it has been Pakistan`s consistent stand that it wants to resolve all disputes
with India, including Kashmir, through dialogue.
However, knowing
the fate of many such contacts and processes in the past, it would be
unrealistic to be over-optimistic about the outcome of the proposed meeting
just yet. In fact, much will depend on the kind of equation that the heads of
government of the two countries are able to form at the meeting and the will
and sincerity they are ready to invest in pushing forward a genuine peace
process. When the visit would take place, and what the agenda would be, is too
early to say. But pending the proposed summit meeting, the two governments
should see to it that nothing is said or done in the meantime that would queer
the pitch for the expected meeting.
Mercifully, in
spite of continued repression in the held territory, the situation along the
LoC has been calm ever since Pakistan responded to India`s Ramazan cease-fire
by offering to exercise "maximum restraint." This should not only
continue, but care should be maintained all around to avoid an aggravation of
the situation in Kashmir. Some political circles have expressed fears that the
annulment of the cease-fire means that India would increase repression in
Kashmir. Already, since the November cease-fire announcement, nearly 1,200
people - Mujahideen, Indian security forces and civilians - have been killed.
If this is the toll during the "cease-fire," one wonders what the
situation would be like now that the truce has been called off. Agency reports
have quoted Indian security forces as saying that the Mujahideen had taken advantage
of the presumed cease-fire but "now we will be able to check their
movements in the valley." Worse still, the government-controlled All-India
Radio said, "It is now clear that while the door for talks will remain
open, bullets will be answered by bullets." No wonder, the reaction of the
Kashmir freedom groups on both sides of the LoC to the Indian offer has tended
to be cautious, even pessimistic in some cases.
One hopes India`s
offer to Gen. Musharraf is not a mere ploy to divert world attention from its
decision to call off the cease-fire. If, in his first ever meeting with Mr
Vajpayee, Gen Musharraf discerns sincerity on India`s part, there is every
reason to believe that Pakistan will reciprocate it. It is too early for those
who wish for a lasting peace between Pakistan and India to hope for a genuine
peace process to begin. But if the two leaders meet with an open mind in an
atmosphere unspoiled by any new untoward developments in Kashmir, progress can
certainly be made towards overcoming the hold of mutual distrust and antagonism
that have invariably stood in the way of a meaningful process of peace and
reconciliation.
Pakistan Observer