Get talking

As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh travels to a Saarc conclave in Bhutan next week,our security establishment is back to debating whether he should meet his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani on the margins of the summit. The case for a substantive conversation not just a run in or an exchange of pleasantries is a straightforward one. The PM is scheduled to sit down separately with all the other Saarc leaders. To single out Gilani,by not meeting him,will only turn the entire focus on the regional forum which now has many international observers including the US,China,Japan,Korea,and the EU on to Delhis tense relations with Islamabad. Worse still,such an approach would reinforce a growing worldwide perception of Indian unreasonableness towards Pakistan.

In fact,its about time Delhi made it a standard practice for the PM,his ministerial colleagues and senior officials to seek out meetings with their Pakistani counterparts at all regional and international gatherings. Given the bitter and bloody legacy,it is in Indias interest to keep all channels of communication with Pakistan open all the time. By making these meetings routine,Delhi will also be able to reduce the extraordinary burden of expectations from every meeting between the leaders of the two countries. Discarding the practice of crafting joint statements at the end of every meeting should help limit the kind of over-interpretation that came in the wake of the talks between the PM and Gilani at the NAM summit in Sharm el-Sheikh,Egypt,last year.

Such a meeting in Bhutan might not necessarily resolve the current disputation on the terms for the resumption of the stalled dialogue. It is nevertheless worth trying. India insists on credible action against the plotters of the Mumbai attack as a precondition for the dialogue. Pakistan wants an unconditional return to the so-called composite dialogue. While Indias demands are genuine,it must also factor in the psychological dimension of the relationship with Pakistan. The surest way of getting Islamabad to say no is for Delhi to demand it vigorously. It is only by talking to Islamabad,treating its ruling elite in a differentiated manner,and exploring many indirect approaches that Delhi can hope to get satisfaction on its many concerns with Pakistan.