Accord to make peace process meaningful
However, no significant progress is expected on any of the substantive issues as both sides admit that they have a long way to go before resolving major disputes —from the trickiest one of Kashmir to less problematic ones like Sir Creek.
After talks between the foreign secretaries on Tuesday to prepare the ground for Wednesday’s meeting between Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his Pakistani counterpart, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, officials of both countries expressed their determination to carry forward the process and consolidate the confidence-building measures taken so far.
A brief joint statement issued after the meeting between foreign secretaries Salman Bashir and Shivshankar Menon said: “The foreign secretaries expressed satisfaction at the progress made so far and exchanged views on carrying forward the composite dialogue process.”
This was the first meeting Mr Bashir had with his Indian counterpart and the talks held in a positive and constructive atmosphere marked with candidness helped him develop good working relations with Mr Menon.
“There is political will and strong determination on both sides to carry forward the peace process towards full normalisation of the relations,” Mr Menon said at a media briefing. He termed the fourth round “successful, productive and useful”.
Pakistani officials said the progress in the fourth round had led to “improvement of atmospherics and abatement of tensions”.
They emphasised the need to consolidate the CBMs taken so far. “We want to see that what has been achieved already is implemented and at the same time we would be receptive to new ideas,” an official said.
Islamabad stressed the need for raising awareness among the masses that they had a stake in the peace process.
The officials acknowledged that more ground had to be covered for resolving contentious issues.
Mr Menon said there had been conversation of an ‘unparalleled depth’ on thorny issues like Jammu and Kashmir.
The dialogue process, he said, had helped the two countries narrow differences and find common grounds. “We are very much closer to settlement of some major issues.”
Pakistan proposed about 15 new CBMs in most of the eight segments being discussed, while India tabled four.
It is expected that some of them will be approved on Wednesday and the rest will be pursued during subsequent rounds.
The two countries also finalised an agreement on consular access to prisoners.
JAMMU & KASHMIR: Islamabad and New Delhi agreed to continue to explore ways and means for resolving the Kashmir issue in keeping with the wishes of the three stakeholders -- Pakistan, India and Kashmiris.
Sources said Pakistan’s stance of finding a just settlement in accordance with UN resolutions and aspirations of Kashmiris had been unequivocally reiterated at the meeting.
Four of the 15 CBMs proposed by Pakistan related to Kashmir, including facilitating travel across the Line of Control, enhancing the frequency of the Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus service, initiating postal service between the two cities and expeditious resolution of cases of inadvertent crossing of the LoC.
SIR CREEK & SIACHEN: Siachen and Sir Creek are two issues on which the two countries are likely to reach an agreement in the next round of the dialogue. “The issue of Sir Creek is ripe for resolution,” a Pakistani official said. The two countries have conducted a joint survey and exchanged maps of Sir Creek.
Both the countries agreed to intensify efforts for an early settlement of the Siachen issue.
The Indian foreign secretary said two proposals on Siachen were under consideration.
Pakistan asked India to put the resolution of the issue on the “fast track” because it was possible.
Both sides agreed to continue talks on the Wullar Barrage.
CEASEFIRE: The Indian delegation raised the issue of alleged LoC ceasefire violations.
Pakistan denied violating the 2003 ceasefire agreement and urged India to resolve the misunderstanding through flag meetings.
Mr Menon said both countries remained committed to maintaining the ceasefire.
COUNTER-TERRORISM: Islamabad pushed for cooperation with New Delhi on dealing with terrorism. It suggested that existing mechanism, including the Composite Dialogue and Anti-Terrorism Mechanism, should be made more effective. “We discussed how to make counter-terrorism cooperation effective,” Mr Menon said.
VISA REGIME: The two countries agreed to liberalise one of the world’s most oppressive visa regimes, although the steps agreed were quite nominal.
There was agreement on starting group tourism.
The Indian delegation proposed starting religious tourism and Pakistan insisted the religious sites should be designated.
During discussions on the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, New Delhi sought security guarantees from Islamabad.