The Hindu : Dialogue will begin at appropriate time: Sinha

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 13, 2003

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Dialogue will begin at appropriate time: Sinha

By Our Diplomatic Correspondent

NEW DELHI MAY 12. India today reiterated that a dialogue with Pakistan could begin provided an atmosphere conducive to talks was created. This, the Foreign Office spokesman said, called for an end to cross-border terrorism and infiltration.

Asked what kind of a "road map" had been prepared by India for talks with Pakistan, the spokesman said the External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, had not specified the "road map".

Since the telephone call between the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan on April 28, the Foreign Office here has been saying that a "road map" existed on the next steps to be taken with Pakistan.

In an interview to a private television channel, Mr. Sinha was today quoted as saying: "Every step is clear in our mind. There is no confusion and we will proceed according to the plan".

"The two Prime Ministers have spoken on the telephone. We have announced some steps and there has been some response from Pakistan. And, I suppose, at some appropriate time, the dialogue will also begin," he maintained.

Sticking to the script that has been read out time and again at both the political and official level, Mr. Sinha said "the thawing" had already begun between the two countries. "The general approach is to begin with official-level talks leading to a political summit. The idea is to prepare the groundwork and discuss what we are going to talk about,"

Favouring a "composite" dialogue, one which is envisaged under the June 1997 "two plus six approach", Mr. Sinha questioned the official Pakistani position that Kashmir was the "core issue".

"None of the existing agreements between the two countries have ever referred to Kashmir as the core issue. When you start a process, you can't write history or erase it. You have to start on the basis of existing issues. The right approach would be to treat Jammu and Kashmir as one of the issues and start a dialogue on all issues, including that of Jammu and Kashmir," he said.

Mr. Sinha took the view that an end to cross-border terrorism was not a pre-condition for talks, but a "practical necessity".

Separately, the Foreign Office spokesman did not spell out India's stand on the re-entry of Pakistan to the councils of the Commonwealth at the upcoming meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) in London.

The Commonwealth, he said, had its own rules under the Harare Declaration and the Millbrook action plan that dealt with countries that had seen an interregnum in the democratic process.

According to the spokesman, the CMAG decision would be a "multilateral" one, and that he would not like to "pre-judge" what this body will do.

He did refer to the current political situation in Pakistan — the Opposition demand on the Legal Framework Order — and the fact that the President and the Army Chief were the same person.

These issues, the spokesman added, would have to be explained.

Unlike in the past, when the Government of India has publicly stated its opposition to the return of Pakistan to the Commonwealth and spoken derisively about the recent elections in that country, the spokesman took no such public position today.

At a time when there have been a few, faltering steps towards dialogue between the two countries, India does not want to be seen taking a public opposition that it opposes Pakistan's re-entry into the Commonwealth.

Mr. Sinha, meanwhile, was scheduled to leave the capital in the early hours of Tuesday for the May 13-18 visit to Russia, during which he will also have a meeting with the U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, on May 14. He will then go on to London for the May 19-20 CMAG meeting.

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