Letter Diplomacy Between India and Pakistan

The moment there is any change in India or Pakistan policy analysts get into action. The exchange of letters between PM Shahbaz Sharif and PM Modi signals possibility of a thaw, but we shall only remain hopefully optimistic. Prime Minister Mod’s call for “constructive engagement” and Sharif seeking “peaceful and cooperative ties with India through meaningful dialogue” appear to provide a window of opportunity for peace-making in the region. The political leadership in two countries must rise above perceptional biases and look towards future and find a common destination zone. Charles A. Kupchan states “Political reconciliation must come first if societal interaction is to have beneficial geopolitical consequences”. The present moment is an ideal time to review a book written with sole objective of improving India-Pakistan relationship.

In the world of academia it is said that “before reading the book it is imperative to read the author of the book”. Mr. O P Shah editor of the book “In pursuit of peace :Improving Indo-Pak Relations” is a former member of Press Council of India and someone who actively participated in the peace process in Punjab (1980), Gujarat (2002) and Ayodhya (1989). He organised the first India-Pakistan dialogue in 1990 in Delhi and second in Islamabad in 1992. He visited Kashmir more than hundred times to strengthen the peace constituency. The book under review is a byproduct of his tireless efforts to improve the relationship between hostile neighbors whose neighborhood policies are increasingly being overlaid by domestic political and ideological considerations. However, a necessary caveat that reviewer is also the contributor to this volume.

   

The book got published under the auspices of Kolkata based “Centre for peace and progress” founded by Mr. OP Shah. The influential public personalities have contributed their papers sharing their lifelong experiences and thereby enriching the quality of the book. Former Vice president of India Mr Hamid Ansari in the prologue wishes that “contents of the book reach the reading public in both our countries and contribute to saner thinking and behavior”. Prominent among those who have written for this volume include: Mr Kursheed Mehmud Kasuri, Mr Yashwant Sinha, Dr Farooq Abdullah, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Salman Khursheed, former Pak interior minister Rehman Malik, A S Dulat, Ambassador Abdul Basit, Balbir Punj, Mushhid Hussein, K S Subramanian, Aga Syed Hasan Mosavi Al Safavi, Admiral L Ramdas, M M Ansari, Sudheendra Kulkarni, Ambassador Satinder Lambah, Hamid Mir, Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo, Mr Ashok Bhan and Gull Mohammad Wani.

Public leaders in India and Pakistan are invested with heavy responsibility to work for improving the relations between two countries. Their role within or outside political formations shall always incentivise the bilateral relationship. Late Arun Jaitley told US diplomat Robert Blake that “India- Pakistan peace process from 2005 onwards has harmed the electoral prospects of his party in North- India”. Electoral politics has influenced the peace process at different intervals in both countries and on many occasions decisions were not taken due to election related politics. Pertinently, public leaders who have contributed their papers to this volume pitch for cordial relationship between India and Pakistan. Mr Yaswant Sinha former foreign minister writes that governments in India and Pakistan should not fall for the “history is just beginning syndrome” and in preparing their agendas they should learn from the experiences of past negotiations and recall the past history, the pitfalls, the highs and lows of this complex relationship. The India- Pakistan relationship is accident prone and every now and then there are landslides on this way, but given the right political direction the sky is the limit, according to Khursheed Mehmood kasuri who as former foreign minister of Pakistan played a key role in giving positive push to this relationship. He claims that India and Pakistan must recognise that terrorism, bigotry, majoritarianism and extremism are among the core issues and concerns which have the propensity to disturb peace. Similarly the rights of minorities have to be protected at all costs. The ceasefire must assume permanence and the two countries should “re-imagine the LOC as Line of “Connectivity and Cooperation”. Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar concedes that Indian authorities have not favorably considered his formulation of an “uninterrupted and uninterruptible” dialogue, a former Pakistan foreign minister , Hina Rabbani Khar did embrace and propagate the idea (Hina Khar is again in hot seat). Mr Aiyar is not supportive of taking up the dialogue process at highest level without proper preparation”. Dr Farooq Abdullah writes that for the last 75 years we have had the problem of Kashmir between India and Pakistan which has resulted in four wars between the two neighbors but no final solution was achieved by these wars. He expresses deep remorse that Prime Minister Modi has not done anything to remove “ Dil Ki Aur Dilli Sai doori”.

Unlike US diplomats Indian and Pakistani diplomats are known for their diplomatic etiquette and are quite professional, more so during their stints in two countries. A former foreign secretary of India once told me that during his career he had minor problem only with one Pak High Commissioner otherwise both countries were lucky to have sophisticated diplomats representing the interests of two countries. After their superannuation some of them have immensely contributed to improving the bilateral relationship by working through Track 1 and Track 2 diplomacy. Abdul Basit who till recently served in India writes “diplomacy is the art of the possible and also art of accepting the feasible to advance the desirable”. Unfortunately due to new low in this relationship there is an opinion that bilateralism has failed and two countries may not move forward. Ambassador Basit in his paper writes that “this relationship has reached to a point where they need external help to facilitate bilateral engagement and meaningful talks”. As against this the veteran diplomat Satinder Lambah, who worked in back-channel talks during the tenure of Dr Manmohan Singh writes that during 2005- 2014 back-channel talks there was no third party involvement. Bill Burns, the CIA chief, in his memoirs wrote that India did not share details with the USA nor did it encourage its mediatory role. Ambassador Lambah feels that there is no reason why “agreement negotiated in 2007 would not be valid today. After all”, he writes “the agreement was not negotiated keeping in mind any individual or a particular political party but keeping in mind the future of two nations”.

More than any other agency the media always played a role in building or breaking peace constituencies in two countries. It can be a unifier or a divider, a connector or a disruptor. Aman Ki Asha was a joint campaign started by two leading media houses The Jang group of Pakistan and The Times of India to enhance diplomatic and cultural relations between India and Pakistan. Mr Balbir Punj – journalist and former BJP Rajya Sabha member, in his paper writes: “that a stable Pakistan is in India’s interest. Pakistan need not define its existence in terms of hate towards India and rejection of its pre-Islamic past”. This to him is the starting point for any meaningful initiative for improving the bilateral relationship”. Mr Hamid Mir yearns for a suitable environment for starting peace talks. He opines that we need to accept that with the suspension of Article 370 and 35A, the Indian government in Jammu and Kashmir has created new misunderstandings on both sides. He further adds that politicians from both sides cannot play positive role in reducing the heat and it is in the interest of all that cooperation is enhanced and extended by allowing cricketers, singers and educationists for more and more people to people contact. Additionally Mr. Mir suggests that both India and Pakistan must stay away from Afghanistan.

Some of the contributors to the volume with military background sound quite rational and forward-looking while proposing the roadmap for improving India-Pakistan relationship. General Talat Masood who served Pak army for thirty years recommends that “both countries need to engage at the official level. The absence of communication has only accentuated suspicion and hostility against each other and given greater impetus to militancy. The fallout from India’s aspirations to be a part of the big league and a partner of US in countering the rising influence of China in the region has its negative repercussions on Pakistan although Pakistani’s proximity to China is its great leverage against India” Niladri Shankar Mukherjee who served Indian army for thirty five years concludes that India and Pakistan must have genuine intention to improve relations. It must never be an exercise or an effort to win brownie points or make political capital. He writes “that in today’s world China and Pakistan together cannot wrest Kashmir from India. Therefore can there be give and take? For that a win-win situation must evolve” and hence need for statesmanship on both sides. The book is written in lucid English and is quite forthright on issues that can help in improving the relationship of two neighboring countries.

Prof Gull Wani is Kashmir based Political Scientist

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts, analysis, assumptions and perspective appearing in the article do not reflect the views of GK

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