New Delhi, June 14: Ahead of next week’s talks with Pakistan to reduce the “trust deficit”, India has advocated “creative solutions” on Jammu and Kashmir and other issues to build on the progress made earlier through the Composite Dialogue and back channel diplomacy.
Outlining India’s approach to future engagement with Pakistan, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, who will travel to Islamabad for talks with her counterpart Salman Bashir on June 25, has listed the progress made on Jammu and Kashmir “based on the common understanding that boundaries could not be redrawn” but should be made irrelevant.
Rao said the two countries had also agreed that people on both sides of Line of Control (LoC) should be able to move freely and trade with one another. She then mentioned cross- LoC confidence building measures that had been put in place, including the bus service between Srinagar-Muzaffarabad.
“On the way forward, we have to build on these achievements. We also have to reaffirm the progress made through complex negotiations and dialogue through patient and unsung effort whether in the composite dialogue or back-channel diplomacy, during this period. We must seek creative solutions,” Rao said during a speech at the Afghanistan-India-Pakistan ‘Trialogue’ held by Delhi Policy Group here Sunday.
Rao asked Islamabad to “shed its insecurity” on asymmetries in sizes and capabilities between the two countries, including the strategic leverage gained after Indo-US nuclear deal, as they were not targeted against it. Emphasising that as the two countries commence the exercise of overcoming the difficulties in the relationship, it was important to reiterate a few points, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said India seeks a stable, peaceful and economically progressing Pakistan.
“Secondly, we sincerely desire peace with Pakistan. Thirdly, we have to learn to live with the asymmetries in our sizes and capabilities. Such differences of scale should not deter us from working with each other. Pakistan should shed its insecurity on these counts,” Rao said.
Despite “misguided and serious provocations”, India has exhibited true restraint, Rao said. She asked Pakistan to prevent the entry of radical ideology into the domain of religion, and, the consequent implications for peace and security between India and Pakistan, making differences over Kashmir even more difficult.
“Radical, militant forces are increasingly battling for larger space in a deadly struggle that seeks to overwhelm moderate, democratic forces in Pakistani civil society,” the Foreign Secretary said.
“As an intrinsic part of the long-term vision of relations it desires with India, Pakistan must act effectively against those groups that seek to nullify and, to destroy the prospects of peace and cooperation between our two countries,” Rao said.
“The last 60 years have had more than their share of bitterness, recrimination, mistrust, misunderstanding and miscommunication, where these two countries are concerned,” she pointed out.
“The road ahead is a long and winding one. But as fellow travellers, India and Pakistan must tackle the challenges of this rocky road with the belief that a secure and prosperous future vitally and crucially depends on our ability to do so.”
Noting that geographical contiguity and shared history, ethnic and linguistic affinities, and similar developmental challenges have not induced an inevitable congruity between the interests of the two, Rao said: “That is the tragedy of our relationship. There is a trust deficit. Some also refer to a vision deficit, especially since India has over the years sought to spell out a broader vision of our relationship while a similar definition has not been easy for Pakistan to enunciate,”
Therefore, there was a need for articulating a common definition of what kind of relationship “we want for the future and the welfare of our millions should be the common denominator of our efforts,” she said.
India was ready to address all issues of mutual concern through dialogue and peaceful negotiations for bridging the “trust deficit”, she said.
Noting that in recent times, unprecedented focus on the “water issue” between the two countries has also been witnessed by India, Rao said “Breast-beating propaganda and baseless charges alleging stealing of water and illegal construction of dams have been spread and poisoned the atmosphere of our relations further”.
The myth of water theft does not stand the test of rational scrutiny or reason and India has never sought to deny Pakistan its fair and stipulated share of the Indus waters, she said.
In future, India could consider cooperation, such as sharing best practices in water utilisation and irrigation, under a suitable bilateral intergovernmental mechanism.
The remarks come ahead of the meetings between the Foreign Secretaries this month and Foreign Ministers next month who have been directed by their respective Prime Ministers to work out the modalities of restoring trust and confidence in the relationship thus paving the way for a substantive dialogue on all issues of mutual concern.

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