ISLAMABAD, Dec 5: Pakistan and India are all set to start the first round of twice-postponed politico-technical-level talks on the proposed Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service in Delhi on Tuesday.
The two-day talks follow a political decision by both sides to establish the first-ever bus service between the two capitals of the divided territory.
The talks are seen as particularly crucial because operationalization of the bus service will determine the level of flexibility that each side is prepared to show on the broader issue of Jammu and Kashmir.
A three-member Pakistani delegation headed by the Director-General for South Asia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jalil Abbas Jilani, will leave for Delhi on Monday for the talks. Kashmir Affairs Director Zehra Akbari and joint secretary (communications) Firdous Alam will accompany him.
From the Indian side, the delegation-level talks will be led by the joint secretary communications, it is learnt. Officials here maintained that Pakistan would enter the talks with an open mind.
The key question to be addressed during the meeting will be the documents on which Kashmiris will travel across the Line of Control (LoC). India and Pakistan have divergent views on this question. While the Indian government advocates the use of passports and visas, Pakistan supports use of UN documents.
Kashmiris on both sides of the LoC have rejected the proposal of using passports and visas. A third option that could be acceptable to all sides is the use of travel permits issued by the district administrations, sources said.
Pakistan is clear that it will not enter into any arrangement that is not acceptable to the Kashmiris or jeopardizes its stand on the disputed status of Kashmir. Recent statements emanating from New Delhi on the proposed bus service suggest that the Indian government may respect the sentiments of Kashmiris and not insist on the use of passport as travel document.
Indian External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh was recently quoted as saying that the two countries were close to resolving their differences on the issue of travel documents, while earlier the Indian prime minister had been quoted as telling some Kashmiris that the issue of travel documents would not be allowed to come in the way of the bus service.
Another important issue to figure in the talks will be of the monitoring of the LoC crossings. Pakistan would prefer border crossings to be monitored and supervised by the UN staff, the sources told Dawn.
A similar arrangement is in place between Turkey and Greece for crossings between the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the Republic of Cyprus. A UN peacekeeping force for Cyprus is now supervising the crossings.
Discussions between the two sides will also cover the Indian demand that the bus link should not be limited to Kashmiris. New Delhi insists that it should be open to all Indians and foreigners.
Pakistan is opposed to this idea as it believes that agreeing to such an arrangement would amount to converting the LoC into a permanent boundary between India and Pakistan.
"In case LoC crossings are used for everyone then what will be the difference between Wagah and the LoC?" is how a senior official reacted to the Indian demand.
Another argument was that for Indians and foreigners other entry points already existed, and this bus link should be aimed exclusively at facilitating and promoting interaction between the Kashmiris on both sides.
KASHMIRIS' VIEW: An overwhelming majority of Kashmiri leaders on both sides of the LoC have welcomed the proposal of starting the bus service. However, they have categorically stated that they would not travel on passports and visas.
Two key leaders of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) who are opposed to the bus service are Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Yasin Malik. They are of the view that the bus link will ultimately transform the LoC into an international border and eclipse the main issue of Kashmir.
The two leaders conveyed their apprehension to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz during their meeting with him in New Delhi last month. Other APHC leaders, including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Prof A. G. Bhat, Maulana Abbas Ansari, Shabbir Shah and Sheikh Abdul Aziz have expressed their support for the bus service. However, they are opposed to travel on passports and visas and maintain that the LoC crossings should be meant only for bona fide Kashmiris.
Kashmiris from Azad Kashmir also want the bus service to start but without passports and visas. They also endorse the view that the arrangement should to be confined to the Kashmiris.
Even if an agreement on the modalities of travel is reached during the talks, it could take some time for the bus service to become operative. Experts point to the infrastructure, including roads and bridges that have to be built by both the countries on the nearly 90-km-long bus route.
According to the estimates of communications ministry officials, the process could take between one and a half and two years. Reports from across the border suggest that on the Indian side not much work is required and the bus service could be launched in around four months.
However, the sources said foot crossings could start right away, adding that a footbridge could be made within a month. Bus service on this historic route was discontinued in 1947 but foot crossings were allowed till 1953. At that time people did not travel on passports and visas. They used permits issued by deputy commissioners to travel across what was then called the Cease fire Line.
Dear visitor, the comments section is undergoing an overhaul and will return soon.