Talking about talking

Atal Behari Vajpayee8217;s first meeting with Nawaz Sharif was right on cue with the decision to continue talks at foreign secretary level. But was this agreement, thrashed out carefully in advance of the SAARC session, the best the two leaders could have done? In the aftermath of the nuclear tests and context of the stalled dialogue since last September, there is much to be said for caution and pragmatism, for trying to do no more than is feasible which is showing a willingness to carry on talking. However, it does not look promising that the foreign secretaries will be discussing the very modalities that have deadlocked the dialogue for a year. Without the appropriate political briefs to make further progress, K Ragunath and Shamshad Ahmed could be talking about the agenda for working groups, including security and Kashmir, till the cows come home. The amiability of a Gujral-Sharif meeting could scarcely have been expected and was absent. There was no joint Press conference after the two spoke privately withoutaides nor even a hint from either side that a better political understanding had been reached at that hour-long session. The pessimistic conclusion is until the politics improve, talking about talks will be about as far as things can go.

If anything, Pakistan8217;s stance appears to have hardened even as it is going through the motions of meeting India halfway in order to satisfy Washington. Sharif arrived at Colombo armed with another idea for enlarging the bilateral process into a multilateral one. His proposal for a SAARC foreign ministers council for quot;inquiry, mediation or conciliationquot; of issues involving South Asian security and development amounts to a plea for intervention on the Kashmir issue by third parties, this time regional ones. No forward movement in India-Pakistan relations seems possible as long as Islamabad believes it has something to gain by giving Kashmir primacy over all other outstanding issues. For the moment some comfort can be drawn from the toning down of the rhetoric on both sides.Beyond that, great sagacity will be needed as well as new thinking, perhaps, on the structure of talks for any progress to take place.

India8217;s decision to unilaterally lift more import restrictions for SAARC countries is a continuation of previous policy and is very wise. Apart from the practical consequences of boosting the trade prospects of smaller countries in the region it is exactly the right kind of message to deliver at this time. It confirms that the way to healthier relations is through economic and trade ties. India as the largest economy in SAARC can afford to take the initiative in strengthening those bonds. Enlarging trade within SAARC carries the promise of improving the prosperity for all the countries in the region. Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal have all recognised the logic of this and benefitted. Pakistan stubbornly holds out from an official preferential trade agreement with India. In time, perhaps, it will see that it is harming no one so much as itself.