Moves afoot for 'structured dialogue' at New York

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, AUG. 29. Efforts are on between India and Pakistan for a structured dialogue between the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, when they meet in New York in the last week of September on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session.

According to sources, informal discussions are on between the two sides to evolve a ``mutually agreed upon'' structure to carry forward the process of dialogue in New York. ``We are hopeful of re-commencing the dialogue on an agreed structure and topics,'' a senior diplomat said.

The Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, Mr. Vijay K. Nambiar, is believed to have had a meeting with the Pakistan Foreign Secretary, Mr. Inam Ul Haq, to discuss the possible agenda for the New York meeting.

According to a senior official in the Pakistan Office, the military establishment in Islamabad is not averse to a structured dialogue. While maintaining that the Musharraf regime has no difficulty in holding discussions on all subjects, the official reiterated that in any dialogue, the centrality of Kashmir could not be ignored.

Indications are that Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) could be one of the major items of discussion when Gen. Musharraf and Mr. Vajpayee meet at New York to pick up the threads from Agra.

In the run up to the Agra summit, India had announced a series of five CBMs and subsequently formally communicated them to Islamabad. The initial reaction of Pakistan to the announcement was that CBMs would have to flow from the summit and not precede it. However in the aftermath of the summit, the military establishment had made it known that it was examining each of them on merit.

The CBMs announced by New Delhi included a visit by the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) to Islamabad for a discussion with his Pakistan counterpart on all issues related to border management and an expert-level dialogue on nuclear-related issues under the auspices of the External Affairs Ministry. Scholarships, relaxation of the visa regime and a policy for early release of fishermen who inadvertently stray into the waters on the other side were the other CBMs.

While announcing that he might meet Gen. Musharraf at New York, the Prime Minister had indicated in Lucknow last week that besides Kashmir, other issues like trade could figure in the talks.

The very next day, Gen. Musharraf made it a point to raise the pitch on the Kashmir issue. Addressing the members of the Pakistan occupied Kashmir Assembly and Council at Muzaffarabad, Gen. Musharraf had declared that Kashmir would have to be the focus of any dialogue and normalisation of ties between India and Pakistan was not possible without resolution of the dispute.

The rhetoric of Gen. Musharraf on the centrality of Kashmir is being seen as more of a ``domestic compulsion.'' A senior Western diplomat maintained that if Gen. Musharraf was only interested in ending the New York talks as in Agra, he would not have formally written to Mr. Vajpayee seeking a meeting on the sidelines of the UN session.

Sources said that if the talks progressed well, the two leaders could reach a ``broad understanding'' on various issues but no formal agreement is expected at New York.

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