The Big Picture – India-Pak Ties: Has The Dialogue Resumed?

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The Big Picture – India-Pak Ties: Has the Dialogue Resumed?

Recently Secretary level talks took place in New Delhi on the sidelines of Heart of Asia summit. The secretary level talk which was scheduled before the Pathankot attack has taken place now after much deliberations between the official channels of both the countries. The article deals with issues pertaining to the dialogue process and way forward.

First the talks have taken place despite the Pak army General’s statement that the present dialogue has nothing to do in addressing the outstanding issues that matter. Nevertheless the foreign secretary discussed issues that will further strengthen the upcoming dialogues it is a sad truth that Pak is using fake agents in the name of Spy and making serious allegations against Indian security establishments.

Second, the SAARC summit is poised to be held in the latter half of 2016. Political analysts are of the view that ongoing dialogue process is a ground work for thawing the tensions that is prevailing with respect to the retired naval officer who is a spy according to Pak army, and Pathankot attacks.

Third, the civilian government seems to be more inclined towards bringing the perpetuators of Pathankot and addressing the other issues of concern. But the recent revelations of top political bosses including Nawaz Sharif in the Panama paper leak is only shifting the ground in favour of Pak military who is not concerned with dealing the issues between two countries with same vigour as civilian government.

Fourth Pak army through the retired naval officer accused of spy is trying to claim the moral equivalency with India saying that India is also involved in sponsoring state actors against Pak to derail the talks or create tensions. However allegation that Pak is making has already irked the international community’s that Pak should be stop making baseless allegations and take the dialogue forward in more diplomatic way.

Finally India being the regional power and a responsible nuclear state should engage Pak through dialogues and engagements until all the outstanding issues are addressed. In this dialogue process even though the returns are not guaranteed India should be persistent and be hopeful of solving the issues peacefully. The Pakistan government should work towards keeping the military at bay when it comes dealing serious issue like terrorism. Both the sides need to be proactive and Pragmatic so as to find a quick solution and ensure peace there after.