July breakdown

July,it would seem,is the cruellest month for Indo-Pak diplomacy. External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishnas visit to Islamabad this week is bound to join the list of earlier fiascos in Agra July 2001 and Sharm el-Sheikh July 2009. Even by the dismal standards of Indo-Pak diplomacy,the joint press appearance by Krishna and his host Shah Mehmood Qureshi in Islamabad on Thursday and what followed after on Friday records a new political low. Until Thursday afternoon,it appeared that the two ministers were close to agreeing on ways to build mutual trust,cooperate against terror,and identify a roadmap for the resumption of the peace process that had been stalled since the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008.

Yet by the evening,there was the ugly spectacle of the two ministers trading charges on a range of issues from Kashmir to Balochistan and from human rights to terrorist infiltration at their joint press conference. If there was any goodwill left,it was shredded on Friday morning by the intemperate Qureshi who blamed the mild-mannered Krishna and Indian intransigence for the failure of the talks. It is a pity that Krishnas visit which began on such a positive note on Wednesday should end in terrible recrimination on Friday. As he landed in Delhi,Krishna chose,rightly,not to get down into the gutter with Qureshi. But there is no doubt that Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs determined effort to put Indo-Pak relations back on track has been set back again. Unlike many previous Indo-Pak engagements,this meeting was carefully prepared. The two sides had already done much of the spadework for a joint statement that would bridge the concerns of the two sides the Indian demand for early action against the plotters of 26/11 and Pakistans case for a sustained dialogue. The government had briefed opposition leadership as well as the parliamentary standing committee on its approach to the talks and the expected outcomes.

Krishnas visit has once again revealed how accident-prone Indo-Pak diplomacy is. While Islamabad takes much blame for the latest turn of events,Delhi cant avoid its share. The Pakistan army might apparently have seized on Union Home Secretary G.K. Pillais remarks,published in this newspaper,about the involvement of the ISI in the Mumbai attacks to disrupt the talks. But there is no denying Delhis incoherence in managing the admittedly difficult negotiation process. Good intentions alone will not take the PM to his chosen goal of transforming Indo-Pak relations. He needs to get his government to think and act with greater unity of purpose on Pakistan.