Peace involves us all

Indeed, the subsequent paragraph repeats the January 6 declaration. The two sides 8220;reiterated the hope that the dialogue will lead to peaceful settlement of all bilateral issues, including Jammu and Kashmir to the satisfaction of both sides8221;. The Lahore Declaration of February 1999 swears by the Shimla Agreement and the Shimla Agreement swears by the Charter of the UN, the mention of which in this week8217;s statement has caused some of the capital8217;s dailies to script unwarranted headlines.

That consulates will open soon in Karachi and Mumbai and mission strengths will be restored to 110, is not for officials to twiddle their thumbs. Increased staff strength will be required to cope with engagements across the board and to issue more visas for accelerated people to people contact. This one decision disguises a vast spread of progress.

There has been such a qualitative improvement in relations since Vajpayee8217;s Srinagar speech that small impediments look like deliberate obstacles. Take the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus. The Pakistanis ask a valid question: what documents will travelers carry? Journeys with passports and visas will make the LoC look like an international border. Well, people from both sides can and do travel to each other8217;s country including to Muzaffarabad and Srinagar. A bus is only an additional facility. It can be argued both ways but what in the end will prevail is trust which is growing.

In the next two months foreign ministers and secretaries will meet more often than possibly ever in the past. The sincerity to 8220;settle all disputes including J038;K8221; would come into question if all diplomacy were in the public domain. Former national security adviser Brajesh Mishra pursued a track for months with his counterpart, Tariq Aziz, in total secrecy leading to the January 6 statement.

Much else must be happening behind the scenes.

In an area as sensitive as Indo-Pak relations a democracy can make no concessions without mobilising public opinion. But proposals, on which a national consensus exists, can be exchanged 8212; indeed, have been exchanged.

New Delhi believes infiltrations until May end have been negligible. But busy bodies talk of a limited 8220;reactivisation8221; of 8220;militant infrastructure8221; across the LoC. Politically this does not make sense. Islamabad is itself upto its eyes with militancy, some of it focused on Musharraf himself.

American presence, like Banquo8217;s ghost, is generally noticeable around an Indo-Pak dialogue table. Why were last week8217;s talks an exception? A veteran of many such engagements knitted his eyebrows: 8220;They would hover if we were about to go to war. Or about to settle.8221; Neither is on the cards. Moreover, Washington is overstretched in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is such heavy pressure on Musharraf to produce Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar that he must be relieved if pressure on the India front lessens.

This is no time for partisan politics. Remember, Vajpayee made the Srinagar speech a week after Saddam8217;s statue was pulled down at Baghdad8217;s Firdous Square. Quarrels in the region could no longer be sustained on the basis of past practice. Global, regional realities dictate a new Indo-Pak equation.

Indian public opinion is easily mobilised on this path, provided too much credence is not given to media amplification of professional strategists who will be jobless in peaceful conditions. This was always true of strategists on the other side as well. But there is new and clinching evidence of Pakistani public opinion totally and unambiguously in favour of a new relationship. This is the biggest pressure on Pakistani statecraft.

There has been a worldwide celebration of Indian democracy. Growing stability, 8 per cent growth adds to our confidence when dealing globally. With Pakistan in particular this must not come across as patronising. Indeed, some movement in Kashmir, including reduction in troop levels, will be the expectation on the other side. Otherwise disappointment and foot dragging will follow, acute regional compulsions nothwithstanding.