AS INDO-PAKISTANI SUMMIT CONTINUE, SO DOES THE FIGHTING IN KASHMIR
Special to Iran Press Service
NEW DELHI 16 July (IPS) As leaders of Pakistan and India are due to meet again
today Monday in an obviously uphill and desperate effort to overcome the thorny issue
of Kashmir that both sides claims sovereignty, Iran watched the historic meeting
between the Pakistani strongman General Parveez Mosharraft and Indian Prime
Minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee with great interest.
The first round of meeting held Sunday behind closed doors in Agra, the site of the world famed Taj Mahal Palace between the two men lasted for ninety minutes, much more than what was expected and was described by an Indian spokesman as "frank, constructive and friendly".
He announced that as the two men had decided to continue their talks, ministers from the two sides would discuss details addressed by the leaders and added that Mr. Vajpayee had accepted an invitation from General Mosharraf to visit Pakistan, though no date had been fixed.
As a goodwill gesture, India announced Sunday that it would reduce "gradually" its forces stationed on the disputed borders by 20.000 men.
But as the Pakistani President, a Muslim and the Indian Prime Minister, a Hindu, were trying desperately to find a solution to end the fifty years-old conflict that has triggered two bloody wars between the two nuclear neighbours and left more than 30.000 dead, violence continued in the disputed region, with Indian police reporting they recovered 18 bodies of Kashmiri militants believed to have come from the Pakistani-controlled side of Kashmir.
It was one of the largest numbers of militants killed in a single operation, bringing the number of causalities from the two sides in the last ten days to 168, according to the Police.
Accompanied by his wife and a high-powered political and military delegation, General Mosharraf had arrived to New Delhi Saturday to an official red carpet welcome, greeted by Indian President K.R. Narayanan and other top officials, including the Foreign and Home ministers, before visiting the cremation site of Mahatma Gandhi, the apostle of non-violence, where he laid a wreath and wrote in the Guests Book: "Today more than any other time, India and Pakistan needed your thoughts to overcome their problems".
He also visited the house where he was born and met his nanny, now 90.
In a statement read on his arrival to the Indian capital, Mosharraf said he is in India "with an open mind and look forward to my discussions with Indian leaders on establishing peaceful, tension-free and cooperative relations between our two countries."
He also called on the Indian leaders to "join hands with us" in resolving the "most contentious issue dividing the two countries: the disputed territory of Kashmir".
"India and Pakistan have never been so close to permanent peace as now and that it is imperative that we must not fail at the Agra Summit", General Mosharraf had told "India Today" prior to his departure.
"The subcontinent has not had this historic opportunity. We have never got so close to permanent peace. This is the first time we are deliberately going to meet each other", he had said, calling the Summit "well thought-out, well-considered meeting".
"This is the historic moment for real peace to come", Mosharraf
pointed out in the interview, adding that it "would be a sad day for
both the countries" if the Summit failed to make progress.
But as Mr. Mosharraf was stressing that the normalisation of relations
between India and Pakistan depended to the solution of the Kashmir question that
could not be resolved but by respecting the will of the Kashmiri people",
Vajpayee responded that the sovereignty of India over the disputed mountainous
region was "out of question" and could be addressed only as part of
other pending problems, including security, nuclear weapons, trade, smuggling
and gas ".
Commenting on the Indo-Pakistani Summit, the pro-government English daily "Iran News" said Sunday that the current bilateral talks will "undoubtedly" bolster the prospects for the planned construction of a pipe line taking Iranian gas to the large Indian market via Pakistan.
The billion dollar project was discussed between Iran with India and Pakistan separately and despite assurances given by Islam-Abad that it would not use the pipe line as a tool against New Delhi in case of yet another war, India remain doubtful, fearing Pakistani blackmail in such an eventuality.
"Iranian diplomatic circles are now looking forward to reciprocally beneficial and advantageous long lasting peace between India and Pakistan, a peace that will serve the entire region, including Iran, as a consequence", the paper noted.
Though no one expect the meeting ends in finding a solution to the sensitive issue, but there are hopes that it would pave the way for further talks between the two large Asian nations.
"Contrary to the past where all efforts for détente failed, the new round of negotiations, difficult and complex, are based on more solid and promising grounds, including a dramatic change in the region’s geo-political situation", noted an Iranian expert.
Writing in the Germany-based Persian-language internet site "Iran-Emrooz", Mr. Sa’id Shirvani noted that as a result of the replacement of India as Washington’s main ally in sub-continent instead of Pakistan, Islam-Abad has lost the attraction it used to have for the West when New-Delhi was in the former Soviet Union’s orbit.
"Not only Pakistan can not count much on the West’s backing concerning its claim on Kashmir, but also the international sanctions imposed on both India and Pakistan after their atomic tests have taken Pakistan’s economy to the brink of collapse", Mr. Shirvani said.
In his view, détente with the Indian neighbour is therefore one of the few ways to soften the sanctions", pointing out that Islam-Abad could "hardly bear the burdens resulting from financial and political pressures, international criticism it faces because of its support for (the Afghan) Taleban while involved both politically and militarily in Kashmir quagmire".
"Another positive condition that could help the Agra Summit not to fail is the positions and powers of the present rulers. As the leader of the BJP Party, an ultra Hindu nationalist organisation, Vajpayee could hardly be suspected of sell out to Pakistan. Also considering his age and reaching the end of his political career, he might be interested seriously to take out the bone left in the flesh by the former colonial power and leave the Indian political scene as a historic figure".
"In Pakistan on the other hand, it was the army that always blocked civilian governments efforts towards détente with India. Now, Mosharraf, a General who took the helm of the power thanks to a military coup and enjoys the full backing and support of the army has the necessary authority to take the first steps in peace talks with India without being accused of sell out", he further observed.
But should talks fail, there could be dire repercussions for Mosharraf at home from hard-line Islamic factions that support Kashmir's militant groups. For India's BJP-led government, starved for domestic successes and hit by recent debacles in state elections, this could further undermine its credibility and effectiveness, political analysts in the region warned.
"The failure will not be for want of good intentions of the two leaders. In their own respective ways, they are best suited to carry out the onerous task. They even have the capacity to rise over the trivia. But they are tied down by history, a complete lack of mutual trust and a ground situation that does not give them much scope to manoeuvre". ENDS MOSHARRAF-VAJPAYEE 16701