With Pakistan insisting that its National Security Adviser (NSA) Sartaj Aziz will hold parleys with Kashmiri separatist leaders and also place on the table the Kashmir issue during his talks with Indian NSA Ajit Doval, clouds of uncertainty hovered over the resumption of the dialogue process between the two neighbours.
India sees the two contentions as desperate attempt by Pakistan to sabotage the talks. But New Delhi is not ready to oblige Islamabad beyond a point. India has already made it clear that it is opposed to any “third party” role in the talk, which should focus on terror alone.
With passing of each hour and after each statement, there seems to be more hardening of stand by both sides on the issue of the role of the separatist leaders and the agenda of talks.
India has told Pakistan that it stands firm on its stance of keeping only terrorism as the central agenda of the NSA-level talks and at no stage would it discuss the Kashmir issue. India has conveyed that Hurriyat and Kashmir are not part of the Ufa agreement and that there cannot be a third party in India-Pakistan talks.
To irk India further, Pakistan said that Aziz will meet separatist leaders not only a day before the NSA talks but also on the day of talks. “The NSA (Aziz) will meet some Hurriyat leaders on Sunday evening and Syed Ali Shah Geelani at 9.30 am on Monday before the NSA talks begin,” said a source in Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi. Pakistan added that Aziz would like to talk about all ‘outstanding issues’,” including Kashmir and other disputes, as well as, terrorism and other confidence building measures when he meets his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval.
This proposed talk between Geelani and Aziz could derail the talks as it is speculated that the leaders might be prevented by the Indian side to reach Delhi. If that happens, Pak sources said, the talks may not happen.
“India had on Thursday advised Pakistan that it would not be appropriate for Sartaj Aziz to meet with Hurriyat representatives during his visit to India as it would not be in keeping with the spirit and intent of the Ufa understanding to jointly work to combat terrorism. We have also sought confirmation of our understanding of the agenda for the NSA-level talks that was conveyed to the Pakistani side on 18 August 2015,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.
Accusing India of demonstrating “lack of seriousness” Pakistan, on the other hand, said in a statement that “India’s insistence to introduce conditions and restrict the agenda for the dialogue demonstrates a lack of seriousness on India’s part to meaningfully engage with Pakistan”.
“It has been conveyed to the Indian High Commissioner that it would not be possible for Pakistan to accept this advice.
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… India’s insistence to introduce conditionalities and restrict the agenda for the dialogue, demonstrates a lack of seriousness on India’s part to meaningfully engage with Pakistan. For its part, Pakistan remains willing to attend the NSAs meeting without any pre-conditions,” Pakistan Foreign office in Islamabad said in a statement.
Pakistan’s response was retaliated by another strong statement by the Indian side in which Swarup accused Pakistan of not being serious for the talks with India. “Pakistan Government’s response on the NSA-level talks with India does not come as a surprise as there has been a pattern to its actions after the Ufa Summit and the latest position is a culmination of that approach. We took the initiative to engage at Ufa. But, unilateral imposition of new conditions and distortion of the agreed agenda cannot be the basis for going forward,” Swarup added.
“At Ufa, the two Prime Ministers agreed on a meeting of the NSAs to discuss all issues connected to terrorism as well as ensure 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,” MEA spokesperson added.
India has also questioned Pak’s intent to deal with serious issue of terrorism as first it took 22 days to respond to the Indian proposal to NSAs meet in New Delhi. It then proposed an agenda that was at complete variance with what the two PMs had agreed upon in Ufa.
“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.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh too asserted that India will stick to the commitment between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Ufa to engage in a substantive discussion on terrorism.
“We are firm on our stand that whatever talks, dialogue are held with Pakistan, that should only and only be on terrorism,” Singh said, adding that talks and terrorism can never go together. While another BJP leader said that any meeting of Pakistan NSA with separatist leaders is just “recreation” which can take place later.