Joined by an idea

PM8217;s JK proposal, so different from Pakistani ideas of pooling sovereignties, deserves support...

Paradigm shifts in diplomacy occur when statesmen successfully reframe a complex issue. The boldness of Manmohan Singh8217;s speech at the University of Jammu on Sunday lay in leveraging a simple word, 8216;joint8217;. In suggesting the joint development of the land and water resources of J038;K for the benefit of all people living across the dividing line, the PM has expanded on the methodology for a pragmatic settlement of the bitter dispute with Pakistan. Any mention of the word 8216;joint8217; in relation to J038;K is bound to raise the hackles of certain varieties of nationalists and large sections of the conservative security establishment. After all, the term 8216;joint management8217; has been a taboo in our national discourse on Kashmir for so long.

It has been associated with the unacceptable notion of 8216;shared sovereignty8217; over Jammu and Kashmir with Pakistan.

For the very reason that various leaders of Pakistan, including Pervez Musharraf, have often proposed 8216;joint management8217;, the Indian side would reflexively reject it. Both its context and content, however, make the PM8217;s proposal on 8216;joint development8217; across the Line of Control in J038;K very different from the notion of 8216;joint management8217;. The idea of a condominium 8212; a form of shared jurisdiction over a piece of territory by two or more sovereign states 8212; is a well-established principle of the Westphalian system of international relations and at the source of many Pakistani proposals for the 8216;joint management8217; of Kashmir. In the PM8217;s idea of settling the J038;K dispute, there is neither an exchange of territories nor a pooling of sovereignties. It does call for substantial political autonomy for both parts of J038;K within the ambit of Indian and Pakistani statehood and converting the contested LoC into an open, peaceful and cooperative frontier.

The most innovative of PM8217;s proposals has been the one for 8216;cooperative, consultative mechanisms8217; between the divided parts of Kashmir. Manmohan Singh8217;s latest suggestion on the joint exploitation of J038;K8217;s resources begins to define the kind of missions that these consultative mechanisms might undertake. Cooperative institutions across the dividing line in J038;K do not

violate the sovereignty of either India or Pakistan. They merely facilitate in J038;K a long overdue cross-frontier cooperation that is so common in today8217;s world. The PM8217;s people-oriented approach to settle the J038;K dispute deserves strong support.