NEW DELHI, April 21: The bilateral dialogue between India and Pakistan seems fated to run aground, especially after the Pakistani Foreign Minister's reiteration yesterday that Kashmir must be retained as a "core issue" in any future talks with New Delhi.Not only did Islamabad tell US president Bill Clinton's special envoy last week that the two foreign secretaries would not meet before their Prime Ministers did, Foreign Minister Gohar Ayub Khan told a Pakistani news agency that "the Indians seem to be backtracking. They are more interested in trade, visa restrictions and cultural exchanges. These things are of less importance for Pakistan."Prime ministers A B Vajpayee and Nawaz Sharif will now meet during the SAARC meeting in Colombo in the first week of July. That meeting will decide whether the two countries will agree to resume their talks, stalled since September over differences on how to deal with Kashmir.The Indian side told the Pakistanis, in January in Dhaka, that it would be happy torestart the dialogue, but on the condition that Kashmir is not the subject of a separate working group.Islamabad has insisted that "separate, equal and exclusive treatment" be given to all eight issues covered in the June Islamabad agreement.Interestingly, by accusing India of "backtracking" on the talks, Ayub Khan has once again touched upon a subject of considerable speculation : did the Indian team sent to Islamabad last June, led by former Foreign Secretary Salman Haidar, agree in principle to separate working groups for all the issues, including Kashmir.New Delhi denies it, that there is nothing on paper to support this charge. Pakistani officials, on the other hand, insist that separate working groups had actually been agreed upon by former Prime Minister I K Gujral and Nawaz Sharif last May at the SAARC summit in Male. That the two foreign secretaries, subsequently in Islamabad, agreed they would abide by that principle. Only then was the round of talks "concluded" in Islamabad.BySeptember, when the third round was held, India said it could not accept a separate working group for Kashmir, but that the subject would be dealt with by the foreign secretaries as part of an overall review. Pakistan, insisting it wanted a "profile" for Kashmir, did not accept. The talks broke down.Officials in the Ministry of External Affairs say they are awaiting a formal response from Islamabad on their offer. Pakistani officials say "the bottom line" is discussing Kashmir separately from less important subjects like trade, visas, Siachen, Wular barrage, etc. Nevertheless, Islamabad still hasn't conveyed Ayub Khan's statement to New Delhi, that no talks will be held before the two Prime Ministers meet in Colombo.
