Intermittent exchange of fire on the Line of Control and the International Border has become a frequent feature over the years, but the way the latest spate has gone out of control suggests a radical shift. Amid a usual diatribe of allegations and counter-allegations, New Delhi and Islamabad have been calling for restraint and also threatening each other. On the ground, the armies seem not listening to the political leadership. This has not only led to loss of civilian lives, but also triggered migration along the borders, reminding us of a pre-2003 situation when both sides were about to go to war.
However, the silver lining one can see in this haze of disappointment is that New Delhi as well as Islamabad are sticking to their schedule of the NSA-level meeting in Delhi on August 23. This meeting is a follow-up to joint declaration at Ufa (Russia) last month, which has raised the hopes of a renewed rapprochement. Notwithstanding the fact that both countries have resolved to show each other down, this commitment to go ahead with the dialogue is encouraging. There is no alternative to dialogue and opening the frontiers for a blazing fight has not solved any problems. It has rather added miseries to tens of thousands of people living along the LoC and the international border and also choked the channels of communication. The stand-off has derailed the hope for a conducive atmosphere ahead of the talks.
The ceasefire worked well for a long time and its consequential benefits were seen on the ground. With tens of thousands of people living along the 725-kilometer-long LoC returning to their homes to live in peace after a long time, the rapprochement paved the way for grand reconciliation. This could be seen in the shape of historic moves of starting the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawlakot bus services, thus altering the status quo between the two parts of Kashmir. This not only created a space for making the situation conducive for furthering dialogue, but also instilled a feeling among the people that the divided state had chances of getting united at least at a symbolic level. Besides bringing relief to people who had been caught in the shelling by the two armies, these Confidence Building Measures were seen as a God-sent gift by the divided families, of whom many had not seen their near and dear ones for nearly six decades. The biggest beneficiaries were the people of the state on both sides, and of course the two countries which could save not only their face but also their resources to a large extent.
The historic breakthrough, for which the foundations had been laid by the then Prime Minister AB Vajpayee and former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, and later on carried forward by Dr Manmohan Singh’s government, was something very significant. This new phase of normalcy, if not friendship, had come in the backdrop of a near war-like situation between them in the wake of the Indian parliament attack of 2001.
However, this could not carry on for various reasons – one being the Mumbai attack in 2008 that completely derailed the process, and then the political instability in Pakistan. Notwithstanding a hostile atmosphere prevailing on both sides, the peace process was at least breathing with the ceasefire being its benchmark. With Nawaz Sharif returning to power and his commitment to peace moves aiming at better relations with India, the hopes for an end to enmity had revived. Like Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi must be under pressure not to continue with this engagement, but this is the time to show that misadventures of hawks need to be neutralized by going ahead with dialogue.
This is the only way to move forward. It is encouraging to see the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party throwing its weight behind the PM though the party was always opposed to this kind of engagement with Pakistan when in opposition. State BJP leader Ashok Gupta told a news conference here on Monday that talks should go ahead. “We have bigger aspirations and are trying to make Pakistan understand the dividends of peace,” he said adding, “the dialogue process with Pakistan is important to realize the ambitious economic development of India.”
Today, it is a challenging situation for both New Delhi and Islamabad to deal with those who are against peace. Extremist elements on both sides are worried about their irrelevance in the wake of success of the dialogue between India and Pakistan. While the hawks in India are working overtime to derail such a process, the extremists in Pakistan may have more effective means (of violence) to discourage such a process. That is why it is important for the political leadership to assert and make such forces irrelevant. Another encouraging thing that has come up is that PM Modi is not repeating the mistake of calling the dialogue off, the way he did in August last year when the foreign secretaries were scheduled to meet. The argument at that time was very weak and untenable. It is in the interest of people that both New Delhi and Islamabad show the grit and go ahead with the process. Only that can silence the guns on the borders.
The author is a veteran journalist from Srinagar and the editor-in-chief of Rising Kashmir
Email: shujaat7867@gmail.com