Daily Times

While the rational ones regarded it as what it was, the hardliners, opposition, and hawks on both sides did not lose a moment to deride the fine print of the five-point press release issued jointly by the foreign secretaries of Pakistan and India on July 10 at Ufa in Russia. The 55-minute meeting between Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, of which the two also became permanent members, gave rise to the expected hullaballoo in media and political circles of Pakistan and India. While Pakistan blasted Sharif government for “evasion of important issues”, Modi sarkar (government) was lambasted in India for making “U-turns” in Ufa on its Pakistan policy.

Strange it is, to say the least, that there is so much noise about a meeting that should be nothing out of the ordinary between the heads of two sovereign states that are intrinsically connected to one another in terms of geography and regional alignments, even if the uneasy, often bloodied, timeline of history is to be overlooked. That, in my opinion, is the biggest problem that affects the status quo — taut, thorny and complex as it is — between the two neighbours, who look at each other with more suspicion than Japan viewed the US after being nuclear-bombed.

Pakistan and India must have a line of dialogue, a solid process, which in the words of senior Indian National Congress leader, Mani Shankar Aiyar is “uninterrupted and uninterruptible.” Without any ifs and buts. Suspicion, mistrust, and ‘betrayals’ of the uncomfortable past hold strongly as the backdrop to any Pakistan-India dialogue or overture. However, in 2015, in the global scenario of diplomatic breakthroughs and dialogue-based moving-forward — July 14 Iran nuclear deal being one of the biggest examples of the old world order giving way to a new one — there is no alternative to a bilateral dialogue that is sustainable and sustained. And this must continue notwithstanding the tensions on the Line of Control; the oft-over-the-top sabre-rattling of some hyper-jingoistic politicians forced to give a sensational line when microphones are thrust in their faces, flashlights blinding their eyes and vision; and war-mongering slogans of heads of banned militant organisations.

Both countries must keep talking to one another without knee-jerk reactions to any obvious or alleged misdemeanour. Whenever there is prolonged silence between the two neighbours, I’m reminded of that Gil Kenan animation blockbuster Monster House of whose owner the neigbhourhood children are terrified of while making a pandemonium outside his house, which is asserted to be a living monster. You gotta face the reality: Pakistan and India need to talk to one another.

The last few months have seen a constant exchange of verbal bravado between Pakistani and Indian politicians, with threats of counter-terrorism and nuclear retaliation thrown in for bad effect. The much-hyped meeting of the foreign secretaries, which took place earlier this year, resulted in nothing more than mere silence, thus making the Ufa meeting, of forced civilities and fake smiles, a tiny thaw in the ice that goes for Pakistan-India dynamic on any hot day. Much was read of the fine print that did not exist, and too little was comprehended of what the talk signified: simply an intention to resume dialogue.

Not much has changed while one channel-surfs or scrolls down the timelines of major newspapers. Accusations and counter-accusations fly faster than Sania Mirza’s volleys on her Grand Slam victory day, and media in both countries have a field day lamenting the other’s lack of scruples and blame-shifting. India’s R&AW is involved in orchestrating acts of terrorism in Pakistan: Pakistan’s civilian and military establishments and media state in indignant unison. And Pakistan is dragging its feet in bringing Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, the Lashkar-e-Taiba chief, and the alleged perpetrator of the Mumbai attacks, to justice: India states in undisguised anger.

While much is being ranted about Pakistan’s another alleged volte-face right after the Ufa declaration of cooperation in the Lakhvi trial, what needs to be done is willfully ignored by media that needs to keep the TRPs going, and the opposition leaders who need a stick to hit the incumbent governments with. The two sovereign states must work on chalking memorandums of understanding that would make cooperation, intelligence-sharing, evidence-collection and presentation of witnesses mandatory for the two sides. Mere sloganeering and joint pressers would not induce a change in a dynamic where terrorism is a huge issue not only affecting Pakistan and India but also the entire region.

Peaceful coexistence of Pakistan and India is not merely indispensable it is inevitable. While they do not claim uniformity in terms of size, population and resource-capability, there are certain issues that beset both on myriad levels: poverty, unemployment, inflation, poor healthcare, infrastructural weaknesses, gender-discrimination, shoddy legal system, and human-rights violations. And that, invariably, brings into focus the huge military budgets of both developing countries that if cut drastically could help stabilise economies where millions still live under the poverty line.

The SCO summit, the 2016 SAARC meet, and other such regional platforms are a great meeting-point to discuss plans that focus on economic development of Pakistan and India, and the other member countries. Both Sharif and Modi governments are focused on economic progress, and that could be the common ground for a dialogue that is sustainable in the long term. While the issue of Kashmir is like an open wound that has remained untended, and other issues like Sir Creek, Siachen and water disputes remain unaddressed, the Ufa meeting opens a door for more substantive dialogue for solutions to long-standing issues.

As Pakistan foreign affairs adviser to prime minister, Sartaj Aziz explained, “…the meeting was not the formal start of any dialogue process. Rather, it has served an important purpose to achieve an understanding that Pakistan and India should reduce tensions to constructively engage in a structured dialogue on all issues of bilateral and regional interest, including the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir.” In an attempt to elucidate the viewpoint of Sharif government, and placating the concerns and anger of opposition parties, media and political analysts, it does not take rocket science to understand the timing of his statement that came in the wake of the joint press-release at Ufa. I fail to understand the reasoning behind this though; I mean, to say that Kashmir would not be on any and every agenda on the table between Pakistan and India, even if not announced, is like saying Pluto does not exist.

In the changing regional and global dynamics of diplomacy, reconciliation and resolution of issues the status quo between Pakistan and India must have an alteration based on mutual trust, sustained dialogue and a willingness to cooperate on issues entailing cross-border firing and terrorism. It is about time that elected governments started acting like governments, and not bickering PTAs of an elementary school. Concessions do not connote softness; an eagerness to find solutions do not denote a desire of appeasement; and a willingness to carve out a new narrative amidst the scars of a painful past do not imply escapism. Inflammatory statements must be treated with the caution and grace becoming of two sovereign states, and conscious restraint should replace reactions that are out of proportion, bordering on superciliousness.

Conscious of the past, rational and farsighted nations resolve issues living in the present while focused on a future that must be in line with the realities of a world where friends are not forever, and neither are the enemies.

(A version of this op-ed appeared online in daily O on July 17, 2015).

The writer is the Executive Editor, Daily Times. She can be reached at mehrt2000@gmail.com and on twitter at @MehrTarar