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Indian, Pakistani Officials Meet as Part of Peace Dialogue, Fail to Make Progress on Kashmir By Mike Nartker WASHINGTON — India and Pakistan yesterday completed the latest round of talks held in an effort to reduce tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals, but failed to make progress on control of the disputed region of Kashmir (see GSN, July 26). During a joint press conference held at the conclusion of the two-day talks, Indian External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh said that India and Pakistan had accomplished “modest progress … worthy of respect.” He also said he had established “rapport and mutual trust” with Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mohammed Kasuri. Singh added, though, that “we should not lose sight of the wise dictum ‘diplomacy provides hope, not salvation.’” The foreign minister talks, held in New Delhi, were the latest round in the peace dialogue India and Pakistan launched early this year with the hope of resolving their long-standing dispute over Kashmir, over which the two countries have warred three times. Over the past several months, lower-level officials have met and discussed a number of issues, reaching agreement on several nuclear risk-reduction measures such as creating a formal system of advance notification of missile tests and a nuclear “hot line” between their foreign ministers. Singh said yesterday that India and Pakistan have agreed to hold several meetings over the next few months on issues such as conventional and nuclear confidence-building measures, a railroad link between the two countries and establishing communication links between the Indian Coast Guard and the Pakistani Maritime Security Agency. Kasuri described the agreement on holding talks on conventional confidence-building measures as “one of the successes” of the talks. Teresita Schaffer, director of the South Asia program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said today that she expected future talks on confidence-building measures would more likely “cross the Ts and dot the Is” on reviving existing measures than they would include discussion on new proposals. She also said that she hoped that any future talks would involve discussion of a proposal developed last year by a group of retired Indian and Pakistani officials on establishing nuclear risk-reduction centers in the two countries. Regarding Kashmir, Singh said yesterday that he had reiterated to Kasuri India’s long-standing concerns over cross-border terrorism. For his part, Kasuri said during yesterday’s press conference that he had told Singh of Pakistan’s human rights concerns in the region. While noting the “centrality” of the Kashmir issue, Kasuri also said that he had told Singh that Pakistan was not “unifocal.” “We know that we live in an age when — we call this a post-industrial, postmodern age — there are areas where we can cooperate. There are areas where other countries in the world are cooperating and they are doing so more successfully when the efforts are joint. I am sure there are areas where Pakistan and India can cooperate,” Kasuri said. One such area, according to Singh, is the field of energy cooperation. He said yesterday that India and Pakistan have agreed to have their ministers of petroleum and natural gas meet and discuss the issue of access to energy resources in South Asia. Such an agreement represents a change in the positions of both countries, Schaffer said, adding that it was one of the significant accomplishments of the talks. Previously, India had refused to consider any proposals on energy cooperation with Pakistan, and while Islamabad had been open to such an idea, it had not been willing to move forward without progress on Kashmir, she said. Singh said yesterday that that the next round of talks will be held between the Indian and Pakistani foreign secretaries in December. Beforehand, he said, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf are expected to meet on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Singh also said that he had accepted an invitation from Kasuri to travel to Pakistan. Kasuri expressed hope during yesterday’s press conference that India and Pakistan would resolve their outstanding disputes, including the issue of Kashmir. “They are not intractable. I do not believe that they are intractable. Given the political will they can be resolved and they should be resolved. And that is our major guarantee for durable peace in South Asia,” he said.
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