The Hindu : Envoy to Pak. has his task cut out

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 14, 2003

International

International - India & World

Envoy to Pak. has his task cut out

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

Islamabad July 13. India's new High Commissioner-designate to Pakistan, Shiv Shankar Menon, who has just completed his stint as Ambassador in Beijing rounding off with a spectacular visit of the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, has his job cut out for him in Islamabad.

Mr. Menon will enter Pakistan through the Wagah border on Tuesday. Accompanied by the Acting High Commissioner in Pakistan, T.C.A. Raghavan, and other officials in the mission, Mr. Menon is scheduled to reach Islamabad before 9 p.m. (IST).

It will be nearly after a gap of 19 months that the Indian mission will have representation at the High Commissioner level. The last High Commissioner, Vijay K. Nambiar, was recalled by New Delhi on December 26, 2001 in the wake of the December 13, 2001 terrorist attack on Parliament House.

Even if Gen. Musharraf was not going abroad, Mr. Menon would have had to wait for at least 10 days before he got an opportunity to present his papers. The Pakistan envoy, who reached Delhi on June 30, could present his credentials to the President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, only on July 11. Reciprocity had been the guiding principle that has marked relations between the two countries. The challenge ahead for Mr. Menon was best illustrated in the near-empty bus that returned from Lahore to Delhi on Saturday. There was just one Pakistani passenger on the return trip. It was not for lack of people wanting to go to India that the friendship bus had to return empty. Both the Indian and Pakistan missions are not equipped to issue necessary visa documents to those who approach them.

After the attack on Parliament, the strength of the missions was halved. It was further cut twice. From an effective strength of 110 each, the strength of the missions is now down to 45 on both sides. Vacancies that arose during the period of tension have not been filled. In several cases, there has been inordinate delay due to insistence on the part of Home Ministry that visa applications be routed and cleared through it. The new regulations for issuance of visas have only made matters worse.

The Pakistan Prime Minister, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, has proposed restoration of the original strength. However, India has so far not responded to the suggestion. The standard refrain from New Delhi has been that it would like a `step-by-step' approach in normalisation of ties and movement towards dialogue.

Resumption of air links is another contentious issue Mr. Menon would be confronted with. Both India and Pakistan have agreed on restoration of air links but have serious differences on whether it automatically covers overflight facilities or not. Pakistan is insisting on guarantees that henceforth whenever India decides to suspend air links, it should not automatically cover over-flight facilities. A meeting of technical experts on the subject has been planned but Islamabad is yet to indicate the date and venue.

Restoration of Samjhauta Express train service, enhancement of trade ties with specific reference to agreements arrived within the SAARC framework and resumption of cricket and other sporting ties are among the other important issues that await Mr. Menon's attention. His work could only be expected to double if the SAARC Summit were to go ahead here as agreed at the Standing Committee meeting of Foreign Secretaries in Kathmandu last week and by any chance the situation moves towards an Indo-Pakistan summit on the sidelines.

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