INDIA and Pakistan have once again sparred  over Kashmir in the United Nations. The point of contention has been the UN resolutions on the state with India’s representative Congress MP Charan Das reiterating  that the elections in Kashmir were a substitute for the will of its people and Pakistani delegate Tahir Andrabi rejecting the argument. Islamabad ’s contention is that Kashmir’s constituent assembly is not mandated to decide on the destiny of the state while New Delhi believes otherwise. This is an old argument, repeated and regurgitated every now and then in the exchanges between the two countries. However, in recent months, the argument has once again acquired a certain rawness and stridency in the tone. The reason for this is the ongoing troubled situation in Kashmir which even in Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s words has brought Kashmir issue to the  “front-burner”.  The loss of 110 lives in the protests – most of them teenagers - have lent a fresh urgency to the need for a political solution.  New Delhi has woken up to make some demonstrative moves to address the situation locally, sending all party delegations and unveiling an eight point initiative to calm the anger in the state. And Islamabad, on the other hand, boosted by the indigenous nature of the current  unrest in Valley has chosen to advertise its traditional case on Kashmir. For once, the country doesn’t feel defensive about its alleged hand in fomenting trouble in the state. The predominantly popular sources of the current agitation in the state have made it difficult to accuse Islamabad of a role. But while this has introduced some minor shift in the standard narrative on Kashmir, the situation in no way has become less complex.   India and Pakistan have again positioned themselves rigidly on the opposite sides of the divide,  ratcheting up their old rhetoric on the state. Pakistan has also returned to its historical stand on the dispute, making the UN resolutions as the bedrock for the Kashmir solution. This is a far cry from the former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf’s radically flexible position on the settlement of the state. His four point proposals which envisaged a Kashmir solution without any radical geographical modifications and New Delhi’s gradual warming up to the ideas have all but vanished from the discourse.  UN resolutions are back in vogue. And that too around the time, the two countries are looking to sit for another round of dialogue.   Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi will be traveling to New Delhi to hold parleys with his counterpart S M Krishna. But the creeping bitterness between the two countries is looming large on the engagement. The talks have already been delayed, a fact acknowledged even by Qureshi who has said that the delay might be result of India ’s unhappiness over his recent UN speech.  There is also a widening  difference over the agenda with Pakistan seeking a return to the Composite Dialogue Process and meaningful discussion on Kashmir. India , on the other hand, wants a thrust on terrorism. India also wants a demonstrative action against the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack as a pre-requisite for expanding the scope of the dialogue. With this serious difference of opinion persisting on a  range of issues, the fate of the another round of talks looks predictable. Now the challenge for the two countries is to not only carry the talks process forward and protect it from the usual treacherous turns in their relationship but also to take steps to bridge their differences on the talks agenda itself.  Ever since Musharraf exited from  the scene, both countries have struggled to get back to productive dialogue. There has been an out and out drift in their relationship and it is time both countries make a renewed effort to bring back trust in their engagement and seek accommodation of each other’s concerns and sensitivities. Only such an approach holds hope of a positive outcome. Peace in the region needs the two countries to step up to this challenge without outside pressure. And Kashmir as a major bone of contention will need to be tackled head on.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 13 Oct 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 13 Oct 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 14 Oct 2010 00:00:00 IST