Tuesday, Aug 19, 2003
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India & World
By B. Muralidhar Reddy
Islamabad took the initiative without waiting for New Delhi's consent to the May 6 proposal made by the Pakistan Prime Minister, Mir Zafarullah Khan, as part of the confidence-building measures. Pakistan's proposal was formally conveyed to the Indian High Commission here. "We have communicated the message from the Pakistan Government to our Foreign Office," a senior official in the Indian High Commission said. Islamabad's move comes just over a week before the civil aviation technical-level experts from both sides are to meet — on August 26 and 27— to discuss the resumption of air links and over-flight facilities. Pakistan's decision on the technical-level talks for resuming the suspended rail service is seen by observers as a shrewd move to test India on the pace it wants the Srinagar peace-initiative of the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, to move. When Mr. Jamali made the initial proposal on May 6 for resumption of the Samjhota Express, India was clearly not enthused for a variety of reasons. New Delhi said that it would like a step-by-step approach even in the process of normalisation of relations and would respond to the various CBMs unveiled by Mr. Jamali at the appropriate time. A view gaining ground is that the pace of normalisation would have to be faster if the proposed SAARC Summit in Islamabad in the first week of January next year is to materialise. To that extent resolution of the contentious issues related to de-linking of air services from over-flight facilities and resumption of the train link would be keenly watched. Pakistan appears to have pushed for the proposal on the technical-level talks for resumption of the rail links after the recent message of Mr. Vajpayee to a conference of Indian and Pakistani parliamentarians and journalists on the need to strengthen people-to-people contacts. Mr. Vajpayee had emphasised the need for cooperation and the right of people for peaceful economic cooperation. There have been signals from New Delhi in the last few weeks, after the SAARC Foreign secretaries agreed on the dates of the summit in Islamabad, that it would expect Pakistan to honour the economic commitments it has made within the framework of SAARC. The Forum is scheduled to meet in Kathmandu sometime in October to discuss the South Asian Preferential Trade Treaty (SAPTA) and if there is agreement on it, India has reasons to be happy. In response to the May 2 announcement of Mr. Vajpayee, announcing the appointment of High Commissioner in Pakistan and resumption of air links, Mr. Jamali on May 6 unveiled several proposals. The India-centric measures were: restoration of the snapped rail and road links on a reciprocal basis; release all Indian fishermen in Pakistan jails, besides the 20 Sikh youth and 14 members of Rajalaxmi; proposal for resumption of sporting ties; restoration of staff strength at the High Commission to the pre-December 2001 level and suggestion for a dialogue on nuclear security related issues as agreed upon in the Memorandum of Understanding in the Lahore Declaration. While there is some progress on some of the proposals, several of them are still pending assent by New Delhi. India on its part has been emphasising that end to "cross-border terrorism and dismantling of terrorism infrastructure" would go a long way in normalisation of ties and resumption of dialogue.
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