India decided to call off the foreign secretary-level talks with Pakistan scheduled to happen on August 25. A Firstpost report suggests that minutes after Jammu & Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party leader Shabir Shah left the diplomatic enclave in Delhi’s Shanti Path area, Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit received a call from foreign secretary Sujatha Singh.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said the talks have been called off as “no useful purpose will be served” by Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh’s visit to Islamabad. “Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh’s visit to Islamabad for talks on August 25 stands cancelled,” he said. He added that Pakistan’s interference in India’s internal matters, which “continued unabated”, was unacceptable.
The decision had been executed instantly. This is a remarkable shift from the Indian approach towards Pakistan for over a decade. The Government of India had overlooked these meetings which were usually held just before any dialogue. However, when Narendra Modi invited all SAARC leaders for his oath-taking ceremony, despite rumours that Nawaz Sharif was keen to meet Kashmiri leaders, this didn’t materialise. Probably because Sharif didn’t want to create any embarrassment for a new Modi Government on day one.
The MEA spokesperson further added in his statement:
“It was underlined that Pakistan High Commissioner’s meeting with the so-called leaders of the Hurriyat undermined constructive diplomatic engagement initiated by the Prime Minister on his very first day in office. The Indian Foreign Secretary therefore, conveyed to the Pakistan High Commissioner on Monday in clear, unambiguous terms that Pakistan’s continued efforts to interfere with India’s internal affairs were unacceptable.”
However what is it that has changed in the past couple of months.
Ceasefire violations have increased in not only the area along the LoC but even across the international border. Despite India’s pointing out that Pakistan has to decide whether they want to talk to the Government or Kashmiri leaders, the High Commissioner of Pakistan went ahead with the meetings with Kashmiri leaders. In a way it reflects that as there is rising turmoil in Pakistan with Imran Khan’s PTI along with Tahir-ul Qadri, probably the Army thinks it can call a few shots.
Delivering a clear message, an External Affairs Ministry spokesperson said
“The only path available to Pakistan is to resolve outstanding issues with peaceful, bilateral dialogue within the framework and principles of Simla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration”.
The Pakistani establishment — its Army and the Army-supported civilian Government – has always tried to look for escape routes from both these agreements. Pakistan’s anti-India rant helps it survive its inner turmoil. At this juncture, Sharif was perhaps not keen to let the dialogue happen, given the fact that hardliners were anyways on a high pitch protest mode. Any peace process at this point in time would have hurt him. Knowing full well that Narendra Modi means business this time, Pakistan must have been aware that talks with Kashmiri separatist leaders could well become an effective means of breaking down talks.
While within India there is a sense of relief over the Government’s assertive diplomacy, it would be a tough job henceforth.
Some feel that Pakistan’s efforts of irritating India are basically a concerted process with China. Even if that is true, let us not forget that China can, at best, only cause a certain degree of irritation and since its economic concerns are best addressed by greater trade with India. China probably has as much to lose because of a stern Modi as Pakistan does (even if for different reasons) and China knows that well.
China will use Pakistan to an extent, but it will not want to spoil its relations with India only weeks ahead of Xi Jingping’s visit
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