NEW DELHI, Aug 21:
A deadlock over Kashmiri separatist leaders today cast a cloud of uncertainty over the upcoming Indo-Pak NSA-level meeting after the two countries engaged in strong exchanges but neither side was willing to blink.
Even as it appeared that the prospects of talks have dimmed, Pakistan tonight said that hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani would be meeting its National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz at 9.30 AM on Monday, apparently ahead of his scheduled discussions with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval.
India having made it clear that a meeting between the separatists and Aziz was not acceptable to it, the scheduling of the Geelani-Aziz meeting introduced a new twist into the drama.
Geelani was among the separatist leaders who was briefly detained in Srinagar yesterday and it would be a surprise if he is allowed to travel here for the meeting. The onus would then be on Pakistan on either still going ahead with the talks or calling them off.
Drawing a redline, earlier India had made it clear to Pakistan that a meeting between the separatists and Aziz was not appropriate.
Pakistan reacted strongly to insist that it would not depart from the “established past practice” of interacting with separatist Hurriyat leaders, rejecting India’s advice not to go ahead with their meeting with Aziz.
India hit back describing the invitation to Hurriyat representatives as a “provocative action” and accused Pakistan of trying to evade its commitment to engage in a substantive discussion on terrorism as had been agreed between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Ufa (Russia) last month.
It said that Islamabad’s insistence on meeting Hurriyat leaders as a pre-condition was a complete departure from the Ufa understanding. Moreover, India has always held the position that there are only two, not three, stakeholders in the bilateral relationship.
Unilateral imposition of new conditions and “distortion of the agreed agenda cannot be the basis for going forward,” External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.
With the two sides sticking to their positions, the likelihood of talks between the NSAs on Sunday and Monday appear to be extremely remote. But neither side was formally calling off the talks.
Swarup said Pakistan Government’s statement on Hurriyat has not come as a surprise because “there has been a pattern to Pakistan’s actions after the Ufa summit and today’s position is a culmination of that approach.”
He told reporters in Jaipur, venue of India Pacific Island Countries Forum meeting, that the two Prime Ministers had agreed on a meeting of NSAs to discuss all issues connected to terrorism as well as ensuring peace and tranquility on the border.
“Instead, we saw a sharp increase in the unprovoked firings from the Pakistani side and some serious cross border terrorist incidents. The last one, at Udhampur, resulted in the capture alive of a Pakistani national, a matter that would have naturally come up in the NSA level talks on terrorism, to Pakistan’s discomfort,” he said.
The Spokesperson pointed out that “Ufa understanding on the talks – read out jointly by the two Foreign Secretaries – was very clear: the NSAs were to meet to discuss all issues connected to terrorism. This was the only agenda set for them by the two Prime Ministers.”
Pakistan took 22 days to respond to the Indian proposal to meet in New Delhi and then proposed an agenda at complete variance with what the two Prime Ministers had agreed upon, the Spokesperson said.
“Together, these two actions indicated its reluctance to go forward with sincerity on the agreed process. Even more significantly, without confirming either the programme or the agenda, the Pakistani High Commissioner invited Hurriyat representatives to consult with the visiting NSA.
“This provocative action was completely in consonance with Pakistan’s desire to evade its commitment at Ufa to engage in a substantive discussion on terrorism,” he said.
The people of both countries “can legitimately ask today what is the force that compels Pakistan to disregard the agreements reached by two elected leaders and sabotage their implementation”, Swarup said.
Nevertheless, he emphasised that India remains committed to discussing issues with Pakistan peacefully and bilaterally. In fact, it had taken the initiative to engage at Ufa.
Earlier in the day, Pakistan rejected India’s “advice” not to hold a meeting between Aziz and Hurriyat leaders, saying it will not “depart from an established practice” of interacting with them.
This was conveyed to Indian High Commissioner T C A Raghavan in Islamabad by Pakistan Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, who also made it clear that any pre-conditions for the talks between the two NSAs were not acceptable to it.
“Pakistani leadership has always interacted with the Kashmir/Hurriyat leadership, during their visits to India. Pakistan sees no reason to depart from this established past practice,” a Pakistan Foreign Office statement said.
Significantly, Pakistan’s reaction to Indian advice came after a crucial meeting of civilian and military leadership here chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
The Foreign Secretary conveyed to Raghavan that it would not be possible for Pakistan to accept the Indian advice that Aziz should not meet separatists.
Meanwhile, India today asserted that it sticks to the commitment between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Ufa to engage in a substantive discussion on terrorism.
Speaking at an event in Lucknow, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said, “We are firm on our stand that whatever talks, dialogue are held with Pakistan, that should only and only be on terrorism.”
He also said that talks and terrorism can never go together.
The Home Minister said India’s intentions are clear to have dialogue with Pakistan, but that should be only on terrorism.
“We stick to commitment between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Ufa to engage in a substantive discussion on terrorism,” he said, adding, “It is to be seen what our neighbour have to say.”
With India asserting that a meeting between Pakistan NSA Sartaj Aziz and Kashmiri separatists was unacceptable, moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq today said there should be no redlines and pre-conditions in diplomacy and politics.
“The reported drawing of redlines by India coupled with its pre-conditions are not non-political. There are no readlines in politics and diplomacy,” Mirwaiz said addressing Friday congregation at Jamia Masjid in Srinagar.
The separatist leader said Hurriyat feels that if both the countries are able to carry forward the dialogue process with sincerity, the amalgam has no issue whether to join the process of dialogue now or later.
“Hurriyat is desirous of a meaningful dialogue (between the two countries) to settle all outstanding problems, especially the core issue of Kashmir,” Mirwaiz said adding “sidelining Kashmir or ignoring the Kashmiris won’t help.” (PTI)
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