The joint statement came after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj met Sharif and later his Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz here on the concluding day of her two-day visit for attending a multilateral conference on Afghanistan.
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A deal resolving key territorial issues, most notably over the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir, would have been signed, had it not been for transfers of powers in both countries in the following two years, Pakistan’s then foreign minister Khurshid Ahmed Kasuri has said. But it will have the same segments – terrorism, Kashmir, peace and security, Siachen, Sir Creek, Wullar Barrage/Tulbul Navigation Project, economic and commercial cooperation, counter-terrorism, narcotics control, humanitarian issues, people-to-people exchanges and religious tourism. The joint statement also notes that Pakistan had given assurances on an “early completion of the Mumbai trial”. Prior to Swaraj’s high-profile visit to Pakistan, Modi dispatched India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval for a secret meeting with his counterpart, General Naseer Janjua, at a surprise-neutral venue in Thailand.
He said foreign secretaries of Pakistan and India would meet soon to discuss modalities regarding comprehensive bilateral dialogue.
There, Pakistan had a special vegetarian section for the Indian delegation, and waiters handed entering Indian delegates plates with snacks from north India.
Islamabad proposed a mention of the Kashmir dispute separate from the resumption of the “comprehensive bilateral dialogue”.
Let me just start by saying it’s a great pleasure to be in Islamabad to advance the longstanding important relationship between the United States and Pakistan and to underscore our support for greater regional peace and prosperity through this Heart of Asia process, which was the main goal of the visit here today.
Hours before she announced the breakthrough, Swaraj had a “warm” meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
In his resignation letter, National Directorate of Security chief Rahmatullah Nabil cited “a lack of agreement on policy matters” and restrictions imposed by the president which he alleged had impaired his ability to do his job. The External Affairs Minister also announced that India is ready to receive cargo trucks from Afghanistan at its border with Pakistan at Attari, Punjab and is also willing to create necessary infrastructure available at the border for convenience of trade. Nothing more was said about it, till the Bangkok meeting on Sunday between the NSAs was held. India has taken a stunning turnaround and is willing to discuss with Pakistan everything under the sun, including the future of Kashmir, an issue that India considered non-kosher for the negotiating table.
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Its response to the proposal, and the action Pakistan takes against the Mumbai attack masterminds, will likely determine the success or otherwise of the newly unveiled comprehensive dialogue with India. We talk to Pakistan so that it recognises this fait accompli and climbs down from its maximalist dreams of annexing Kashmir. Terrorist attacks in Kabul, including a July 2015 attack on the Afghan Parliament, led Ghani to adopt a harder stance on Pakistan, which he accused of not doing enough to root out Taliban militants within its border. India’s experience in dealing with Pakistan over decades has been that the civilian government’s commitments to India were often overruled by the army.
