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Friday, May 16, 2008
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Pakistan committed to combating terrorism: Mohammed Sadiq

Nirupama Subramanian

The fourth round of the composite dialogue process to be reviewed on May 20-21

ISLAMABAD: Both Pakistan and India appear keen to ensure that the Jaipur blasts do not overshadow next week’s talks between the two countries when External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee makes his first visit here after the new PPP-led government took office.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Sadiq played down reports in the Indian and the Pakistani media about veiled Indian suggestions of a Pakistani hand behind the blasts in Jaipur that killed over 60 people.

Responding to questions at his weekly briefing on Thursday, Mr. Sadiq said Pakistan had not heard anything about this from the Indian government. He also downplayed Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon’s remarks that the issue of terrorism would be taken up during the talks.

The spokesman said “terrorism and drug trafficking” was one of the eight segments in the composite dialogue process, the fourth round of which the foreign secretaries of the two countries and the Foreign Ministers were due to review in the May 20-21 meetings.Mr. Sadiq said terrorism was a “common threat” and being a victim of terrorism itself, Pakistan was committed to combating it. He pointed out that both Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had condemned the attacks.

The Indian side is saying there is no information yet of a Pakistani hand in the Jaipur blasts, and while the issue of terrorism will come up in the talks next week, it will be more as a general reiteration of the “fundamental principle” that Pakistan must not allow its territory to be used for attacks in India, rather than as a reference to any one incident.

Besides fulfilling the “important but restricted” agenda of reviewing the fourth round of the composite dialogue process that has been hanging fire since October 2007, officials dubbed Mr. Mukherjee’s visit as a “getting to know you trip,” a familiarisation process with the new government.

Mr. Qureshi is, however, no stranger to the India-Pakistan peace process, having been involved in the “track two” diplomacy that went on simultaneously with the official peace process. The new foreign secretary, Salman Bashir, is also said to be hands-on with the peace process.

Optimistic

The spokesman said Pakistan was “very positive” about the upcoming talks. “We hope to make further progress. If you look at the history, at the last four or five years, we can see that there is clear progress,” Mr. Sadiq said. “We hope to make progress on the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir in addition to other issues”.

Responding to questions about Prime Minister Gillani’s description of President Musharraf’s Kashmir proposals as “half-baked,” he said an elected Parliament adds “interesting and positive elements” to policy formulation. He said the government’s policy would be framed keeping national interests in mind.

Countering questions about the slow progress of the process, the spokesman said diplomacy was typically a “slow process” and moved at “a glacial speed,” and the complex issues that the country was facing would need time and effort to resolve.

But the Pakistani side is also keen to push for some “outcomes” from the visit. Foreign Ministry officials said that Pakistan’s draft on the liberalisation of the visa regime had been with India for some time, and the Mr. Mukherjee’s visit would be an opportune time to announce it.

Clarifications needed

Indian officials said this was unlikely to happen, as New Delhi still needs clarifications on Pakistan’s draft. The officials said the Pakistan proposals were an improvement on last year’s draft but still a watered-down version of the Indian proposals.

The two sides are more likely to sign a consular access agreement that will provide officials of the two countries easier access to their nationals in jails of the other country.

Outrage

The issue of Indian and Pakistani prisoners languishing for years in each other’s jails has been the focus of attention and high emotion since the release of the death row prisoner Kashmir Singh, who spent 35 years before being discovered and freed by Pakistani authorities earlier this year. Pakistanis have been outraged that since that release, two of their compatriots have died in Indian custody.

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