J&K House resolution puts the onus on India
The Jammu & Kashmir legislative Council's resolution calling upon the State Government to urge New Delhi to resume the India-Pakistan dialogue is disappointing. While there can be no dispute that the best way to resolve contentious issues between the two countries is through negotiations, it is equally the case that holding talks at any cost, including in a hostile environment, does nothing to further the cause of peace. Unfortunately, the Upper House of the Jammu & Kashmir State legislature failed to grasp this bit of political-diplomatic strategy. Or else, it would have at least called upon Islamabad to act in a responsible manner. After all, the Foreign Secretary level talks, scheduled at India’s initiative, for August 25, were called off because of Pakistani transgressions. In the run-up to the talks, Pakistan's High Commissioner in New Delhi Abdul Basit held discussions with Kashmiri separatist leaders even though Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh had made it amply clear that New Delhi did not appreciate such meetings. This was an unacceptable breach of diplomatic protocol. It was a public “spectacle”, to use the words of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, designed to snub New Delhi — and no sovereign Government needs to tolerate such shenanigans. Yet, the legislative Council's resolution makes it seem as if it was New Delhi's churlishness that led to the cancellation of the talks. Ironically, it was the Narendra Modi Government at the Centre that had worked with its counterpart in Islamabad, immediately after being sworn in to office three months ago, to kick-start the bilateral dialogue. The process had been stalled since January 2013 when ceasefire violations shattered a decade-long peace along the line of Control.
This brings us to the second part of the Jammu & Kashmir legislative Council's resolution which urges New Delhi to take effective steps to end firing across the line of Control and the International Border. Here too, there is no mention, forget condemnation, of recent Pakistani aggression. There have been 24 ceasefire violations by Pakistan in the month of August alone. Two villagers have been killed and 17 others, including four BSF jawans, have been injured in cross-border firing. Militant attacks have also been on the rise, and there is enough reason to believe that the Pakistani Army is giving fire cover to jihadis infiltrating Kashmir. Efforts to bring the situation under control have borne little fruit. The Director Generals of Military Operations from both sides have spoken over the hotline and three flag meetings have been held, but cross-border firing from Pakistan has continued unabated.
To understand the full import of the legislative Council's statement, however, one must also look at it from a domestic policy prism (and not just a foreign or security policy view-point). Jammu & Kashmir is going to the poll in less than three months and the incumbent regime knows that it is on slippery ground. Hence, the National Conference and those like it are using this issue to create suspicion about the BJP as a hardline party which is opposed to peace with Pakistan. In the process, they are also hoping to appease the separatists, who can be expected to return the favour during election season.