Islamabad: Following the last-minute scuttling of talks between the national security advisers of Pakistan and India, proposed meetings between senior military officials of the two countries are unlikely to occur soon.
The separate meetings between Director General Military Operations (DGMOs) and heads of Pakistan Rangers and India’s Border Security Force (BSF) were part of the understanding between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in their meeting in the Russian city of Ufa last month.
New Delhi wanted the two meetings before the NSA-level talks, but Islamabad proposed the interaction between senior military officials in September. Islamabad had suggested September 6 for the heads of Rangers and BSF meeting. The DGMOs’ meeting would have followed it.
However, with the NSA talks called off due to differences over the agenda and Pakistan’s invitation to Kashmiri Hurriyat leaders, the meetings between DGMOs and heads of Rangers and BSF are uncertain, said a senior Pakistani official.
“The entire Ufa agreement has now become controversial,” the official added while requesting anonymity. He disclosed that the Ufa accord has become ‘irrelevant’ due to the cancellation of the NSA talks.
Different interpretations of the Ufa joint statement had led to a blame game that eventually compelled Pakistan to call off the NSA talks just hours before Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, was to travel to New Delhi.
While India was adamant that under the Ufa accord, the NSA meeting was restricted to terrorism-related issues, Pakistan insisted the Kashmir issue was very much part of the agenda.
In an interview with India’s CNN-IBN news channel, Aziz admitted that both countries interpreted the Ufa agreement differently. He, however, insisted that Pakistan’s agenda for the NSA talks were in line with the Ufa joint statement.
When asked, Aziz said the DGMOs meeting would proceed, but he would not give the exact date for the senior military officials’ talks. These meetings aimed to reduce rising tensions along the Line of Control and working boundaries. Since the Ufa meeting, there have been at least close to 200 incidents of ceasefire violations reported by both sides along the LoC and working boundary. In addition, both sides accused the other of hostilities.
The stalemate is likely to ratchet up tensions between the two neighbors, although Pakistan hoped the cancellation of talks would not further deteriorate ties. While prospects of resumption of talks seem remote at this stage, the official said both countries would now use ‘backchannel’ to sort out modalities before future engagements.
According to another official, given the pressure by powerful Western countries, particularly the US, on Pakistan and India, the two countries will still explore options for re-engagement. In addition, the upcoming UN General Assembly (UNGA) session may provide Islamabad and New Delhi a platform to look into options for maintaining some contact.
The official said Pakistan was also considering going ‘aggressive’ on the Kashmir issue during the UNGA session, where the prime minister will address the keynote. “But it depends how things pan out in coming days,” said the official, adding that if India continues sticking to its current stance, Pakistan will be left with no other option but to raise the longstanding dispute at all international forums.
India, however, continues harping on to the old mantra of terrorism, further bedeviling relations with Pakistan instead of making efforts to minimise the damage done by the cancellation of the NSA talks. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary, Anurag Thakur, said on Saturday there would be no revival of cricketing relations with Pakistan if Islamabad harbors Dawood Ibrahim, India’s most-wanted man, and continues the dialogue with Hurriyet leaders.
“Dawood in Karachi. National Security Agency (NSA) wants to meet separatists here. Are you serious about peace, and you expect we’ll play cricket with you?” Thakur said in a Twitter message, according to the Press Trust of India.
