Sir — In the end, games to gain an edge led to the collapse of the National Security Advisor level talks. This once again proves the old maxim for the people of Jammu & Kashmir: Whether the knife falls on the watermelon or the watermelon falls on the knife, it is the watermelon that gets cut. Now, Kashmiris are bracing for rising tensions along the borders between India and Pakistan, resulting in more ceasefire violations and casualties.
Whether or not the two countries allow border skirmishes to get out of control and blow up into a larger conflict, for thousands of people living on the two sides of the border in the State, any ceasefire violation means destruction.
Separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq had suggested a way out of the impasse that perhaps did not please either India or Pakistan. The Mirwaiz had said that Pakistan’s NSA Sartaj Aziz could begin talking to his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval and that the latter could meet the Kashmiri separatist leaders later.
There is nothing new in either the separatist leaders meeting the Pakistani High Commissioner in New Delhi or attending the Pakistan Day celebrations at the High Commission. There is also nothing new about Pakistan’s commitment to support the cause of separatism in Kashmir and India’s mishandling of the Kashmiri separatists.