Much before Hina Rabbani Khar, the newly appointed foreign minister of Pakistan, touched Indian soil a senior Indian minister had told a select group of journalists that 'substantial political issues concerning Kashmir will not be on the table when foreign ministers of India and Pakistan meet in New Delhi on Wednesday.'
There is no surprise that Foreign Minister S M Krishna and Khar have performed on the dotted line. The foreign minister-level meet has transpired after a year but the 'K' word remained understated. The joint statement mentioned Jammu and Kashmir in regular manner along with scores of other bilateral issues.
It said, "The ministers held discussions on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir and agreed to the need for continued discussions, in a purposeful and forward looking manner, with a view to finding a peaceful solution by narrowing divergences and building convergences. The ministers held discussions on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir and agreed to the need for continued discussions, in a purposeful and forward looking manner, with a view to finding a peaceful solution by narrowing divergences and building convergences.'
In fact, a senior minister well-versed with the bilateral issues had told in interactions with media much before Krishna-Khar meeting that, "There is also no composite dialogue which means that there is no substantial political discussion on Kashmir. Words like 'autonomy' will not figure in the discussions. We will not discuss what to do with Kashmir or how the Kashmir issue should be resolved. However, the Indian government has always been in favour of meetings."
In a report published in Deccan Herald, the government's position on the method behind Indo-Pak dialogue has been explained.
According to the report, a senior source in the government said, "There are three levels of engagement with Pakistan. At one level, the discussions have progressed -- on issues such as cross-border trade, road and rail link, cultural as well as people-to-people exchanges."
"At the second level, there are issues where we have spoken but not made much progress such as Saichen and Sir Creek. At the third level, there is the issue of intelligence sharing on which we have no discussion at all. And we are not going to take this up unless Pakistan comes clean on 26/11 attacks," he added.
The report further said, 'Home Minister P Chidambaram told his Pakistan counterpart Rehman Malik last week in Thimpu that the (26/11) trial has become a mockery as four judges have been changed, that only two genuine arrests were made while six were arraigned and as regarding the rest, they are not the real accused.'
Pakistan side is dithering from sending voice samples of the accused of 26/11 attacks because it is against fundamental rights in that country. Malik had told Chidambaram that he would move an amendment in the Pakistan National Assembly to make changes in the law.
Image: Foreign Minister S M Krishna shaking hands with her Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar in New Delhi on Wednesday
Photograph: B Mathur/Reuters
