Indo-Pak panels given shape on 8 issues

But the mood in Murree, a hill station 60 kilometres north of Islamabad, was quite optimistic where Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan, Salman Haider and Shamshad Ahmad respectively, along with their teams held a marathon six-hour session. The two foreign secretaries also spent an hour together up the winding roads that lead to the hill station as they shared the same car to reach Murree and had, what the Pakistan foreign secretary described as an 8220;exclusive session.8221;

The sore point, however, remains Kashmir. The discussions at the grand Governor8217;s House, a rest house for the rich and powerful who come to cool off, were a stone8217;s throw from Kashmir Point in Murree, from where the valley is visible on a clear day.

The mood may have been serene but the discussions were not. Pakistan foreign office staffers say that the discussions in Murree were 8220;frantic and exasperating at times.8221; The only thing that kept the teams going were the high expectations placed on their shoulders by the prime ministers of the two sides. When the teams finally merged, Saleem said, 8220;you can guess from their faces that the talks were successful8221;. Saleem must be a happy man: the fact that he was representing both sides as a spokesman, may have been the start of the atmosphere of consensus that prevailed.

On Monday morning, the smiles of the bureaucrats had been translated into a joint statement. The achievement may be seen by many as below expectations but insiders say that the points of difference were many and the time short. 8220;You should be happy with this,8221; said one official.

The deliberations in Islamabad have resulted in both countries agreeing to setting up working groups. 8220;The mechanism will initiate progress towards settlement of all outstanding issues,8221; Shamshad Ahmad, told a joint press conference in Islamabad on Monday morning, adding 8220;we have successfully completed the task assigned to us by our two prime ministers.8221;

The significant aspect has been the inclusion of Jammu and Kashmir in the final document as an area on which a working group will be established. India has previously rejected any dialogue on this region, which it calls its integral part. Working groups will also be set up on regional peace and security, the dispute over the Siachen glacier, Wullar Barrage, Sir Creek, terrorism and drug trafficking, economic and commercial co-operation and the promotion of friendly exchanges in various fields.

But Haider sought to play down the issue of Kashmir and asserted that India had not made any concession on the issue. He said all pending issues between the two countries had actually been 8220;interlinked8221;.

Ahmad echoed Haider8217;s sentiments and said that 8220;we have no illusions about the complexity of the work ahead of us.8221; To creating conducive conditions, the two sides have also agreed to prevent hostile propaganda and provocative action against each other. The joint spokesman of the two sides said that this will extend to the state owned media which has been producing propaganda material on both sides for several years now.

Haider informed that constitution of working groups and other aspects will be discussed further in the next round of talks scheduled to be held in New Delhi in September.

Hawks in Pakistan have accused Pakistani Premier Nawaz Sharif of selling out on the issue of Kashmir. 8220;By assigning Kashmir to a working group, the issue is being sidelined,8221; said one analyst.

The Pakistani hardliners fear that by agreeing to talk on Kashmir, India has taken a tactical step back to take two steps forward in the future. 8220;What I fear is that when Kashmir is brought at par with subjects like trade, India can ask that the issues be treated independently.

This means that while progress can stall on Kashmir, issues like trade will be allowed to go ahead. We want everything to be tied to Kashmir,8221; says one hardliner.

Features of the pact

Both sides will take all possible steps to prevent hostile propaganda and provocative actions against each other.

All outstanding issues of concern to both sides including Jammu and Kashmir, Siachen, Wullar Barrage/Tulbul Navigation Project, Sir Creek, terrorism and drug trafficking, economic and commercial cooperation, promotion of friendly exchanges in various fields will be addressed.