Talks to focus on framework

By C. Raja Mohan

NEW DELHI, JULY 11. The Agra talks this weekend between the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, are likely to focus on the creation of mechanisms that might address the core political concerns of both nations.

If Gen. Musharraf is prepared to move towards a normal relationship with India that is free from violence, it is strongly held here, New Delhi may be more than willing to address Islamabad's concerns on Kashmir.

The Government may want to initiate sustained negotiations at a political level on Kashmir, if Gen. Musharraf can convince his Indian interlocutors that he is looking at a different future for Pakistan and can be a reliable partner in promoting regional peace and prosperity.

All indications here are that the principal objective of Gen. Musharraf at Agra will be getting India to accept a new negotiating mechanism on Kashmir which he can proclaim as major political victory at home.

India is already committed under recent agreements with Pakistan to discuss the Kashmir issue, alongwith other problems, at the level of Foreign Secretaries. Gen. Musharraf apparently wants the talks on the Kashmir issue separated from the rest and elevated to a higher political level.

Mr. Vajpayee should be well aware that talks at the bureaucratic levels are unlikely to go anywhere. Raising the talks to a political level and making them continual may certainly inject greater purposefulness into the process. While the details of the mechanism may come up for discussion at Agra, New Delhi is unlikely to enter into such a negotiation without a commitment from Pakistan to shed its compulsive hostility towards India.

Mr. Vajpayee would expect Gen. Musharraf to give credible assurances on ending Pakistan's support for cross-border terrorism and begin to put in place the building blocks of a cooperative relationship. India is unlikely to be satisfied with mere words or promises from Gen. Musharraf, and would be interested in some kind of a mechanism that would help verify if the Pakistan army is serious about ending its dalliance with the jihadis.

India as well as much of the international community want to know if Gen. Musharraf is the man to get Pakistan off the self- destructive path of supporting international terrorism and jihad. If Gen. Musharraf can convince Mr. Vajpayee that he is prepared to walk together on the high road, India may be more than ready to grant a new negotiating mechanism on Kashmir.

In fine-tuning the arrangements for acceptable mechanisms on core concern, New Delhi would certainly want to avoid a structure of negotiation in which Pakistan can continue to leverage its instruments of cross-border terrorism.

Pakistan's willingness to dismantle the infrastructure for international terrorism on its soil, in a verifiable manner, may then turn out to be the key to a successful outcome at the Agra summit.

PTI reports:

Despite Pakistan's plan to focus on Kashmir at the Agra summit, India today said it was looking at a ``broad comprehensive framework'' for dialogue for building a stable structure of peace and cooperation. ``We are looking at a broad comprehensive framework for dialogue with Pakistan - one that addresses all outstanding issues and one that sets the tone for future direction in relations between the countries,'' an External Affairs Ministry spokesperson told reporters.

Underscoring New Delhi's desire to evolve a ``future dialogue mechanism'', she said the ``core concerns'' of the people of both countries needed to be addressed. ``This is our perspective. We will also discuss all outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir,'' she said. ``Our discussions with Pakistan would be based on the composite dialogue process'' which includes trade and cooperation.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : National
Next     : Rajpath acquires a new look