PRAGOTI

 South Asia suffers from several ailments in which peace between India and Pakistan has become a question, which is getting complicated with time. During the visit of Indian foreign minister to Islamabad an aura was created that now the two countries will resolve all the outstanding issues and we will live in tranquility.  The outcome of the talk is well known to us and it is a  time for a proper introspection. The correction is also necessary so that we can adopt a realist course of action for establishing peace with Pakistan. Not going into details some points are made in this article analyzing the reasons for the stalemate.

 
 
 
South Asia suffers from several ailments in which peace between India and Pakistan has become a question, which is getting complicated with time. During the visit of Indian foreign minister to Islamabad an aura was created that now the two countries will resolve all the outstanding issues and we will live in tranquility.  The outcome of the talk is well known to us and it is a time for a proper introspection. The correction is also necessary so that we can adopt a realist course of action for establishing peace with Pakistan. Not going into details some points are made in this article analyzing the reasons for the stalemate.

 
 
Following are the main reasons why the recent talks between the two nuclear armed neighbours failed to achieve anything.
 
No Common Agenda for Talks: India and Pakistan did not have a commonly agreed upon agenda for the talks. India was for action against the conspirators of 26/11, whereas Pakistan wants the resumption of composite dialogue whereas it can discuss the various outstanding issues. 
 
Domestic Political Constraints: Domestic political constraints play a vital role in foreign policy and in the case of India and Pakistan this has evident in the recent past. Indian ruling establishment wanted to present that it succeeded in putting pressure on Pakistan for controlling the anti-India elements.  Similarly, in the case of Pakistan Kashmir comes to the core as it is a popular and emotive issue, at least for sections of the public.  Domestic political burden unfortunately overshadowed the prospects of frank discussions on many issues. The more India talks about the 26/11, the more Pakistan will raise the Kashmir issue. This will lead to a permanent deadlock. 
 
Media: India and Pakistan have media groups who are the biggest warmongers. They seem to argue and create hype as if in one round of talks all outstanding issues will be resolved. It is a universal truth that no conflicts between two nations are resolved in just one parley. Sometimes it takes decades before countries reach on any conclusion. In this the media purposely created a picture of things being changed after the SAARC summit, and when Mr. S.M. Krishna visited Pakistan it was presented as if everything is going to change. One may call it irresponsible role of the media, but such reporting is in their business interest and until the both the government learn to deal with their respective media, peace will suffer. 
 
Role of Pakistani Army: While dealing with Pakistan one cannot overlook the role of its army. It is reported that General Kayani at the last minute called President Zardari and PM Gilani and asked them to take a concrete commitment from India on a roadmap ahead. This also resulted in failure of peace talks because the Indian foreign minister did not had any mandate to make such on-the-spot decisions. Pakistani army does not want to have peace with India particularly at this stage when it is engaged in Afghanistan. The current status of Indo-Pak relations suits its plans in Afghanistan and its dealing with America. 
 
Role of Indian Bureaucracy: In an uncalled for manner, Mr. Pillai, the Indian home secretary, raised the issue of link between ISI and Mumbai terrorist attack when the Indian foreign minister was in Islamabad.  There must be some instruction from the top for Mr. Pillai to make such a statement. A senior bureaucrat such as Mr. Pillai very well knows what impact his statement will make on the peace talk so this is not something which is very innocent. 
 
Foreign Role: The most unfortunate part is that Americans pushed India and Pakistan for talks.  This is the reason why it was just a talk without any proper preparation. The domestic actors of both the countries are not taken into confidence before the starting of talks. It was just a peace talk with no intention, and objectives. 
 
Peace talks between India and Pakistan can succeed only when these two countries themselves come to the dialogue table. There is a need for wider consultation both in India and Pakistan before any peace talk begins. The Indian government must consult its cabinet, with major opposition political parties, senior media persons and the editors of national dailies. Similarly in the case of Pakistan (Indian process should be followed) Army should be consulted and be made the part of peace process. 
 
The Indian government never tried to build a broad based consensus before starting peace talks with Pakistan and this is the reason why it fails every time.