Indo-Pak talks fuel optimism

Khokhar meets Hurriyat conference leaders, Kashmir to be taken up today

The first day of the first round of foreign secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan concluded yesterday with some positive results but both sides kept their powder dry for the substantive element in the talks ""Kashmir ""due to be discussed on Monday.

Navtej Sarna, Indian spokes-man, confirmed that confidence-building measures that related to "humanitarian" and "communication" issues and the result of the expert-level consultations on nuclear confidence-building measures were on the table.

This is the foreign office code for a likely go-ahead for the Khokrapar-Munabao rail line (for which technical discussions have been held), the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service (for which dates have to be set for technical discussions) and restoring the strength of respective missions in Islamabad and New Delhi to 110 each.

Some proposals could be announced on civilian prisoners, fishermen and missing defence personnel. The breakthroughs will be announced tomorrow.

"The foreign secretaries will carry forward the nuclear negotiations," Sarna said and added comments from the Pakistani side on the draft proposal were awaited.

A sign of hope was the fact that neither side brought up with any real heat, the issue of the killing of the Pundir brothers and 11 others by terrorist groups in Kashmir. Nor were "excesses" by Indian security forces referred to, a sure way of derailing talks.

However, just to remind everyone, especially public opinion back home that the Kashmir issue continued to be centre stage, Pakistan foreign office spokesman Masood Khan said Kashmiris were the "principle party to the dispute" and their aspirations had to be considered for a "viable and just solution" to the Kashmir problem.

"There is no change in Pak stand. Kashmiris are principle party to the dispute and a viable and just solution has to be based on aspirations of the Kashmiri people," Khan said, describing peace and security and Kashmir as two "clusters" between the two sides.

Just to drive the point home that trilateral talks on Kashmir would have to be held at some point, Pakistan foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar met several Hurriyat Conference leaders including Shabbir Shah, Mirwaiz Omar Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Geelani, whose faction is not recognised by India. People's League supremo Sheikh Abdul Aziz also held discussions with Khokhar.

The Indian side kept a diplomatic silence on the meetings, declaring unofficially that Khokhar had the right to meet anyone he pleased. But for obvious reasons, any move that bestows legitimacy on the meeting of these groups with Pakistani delegates will quickly be rejected by the Indian side.

Tomorrow's conversation will be taken up where it was left off when the foreign secretaries of the two countries charted out a calendar of meetings during their consultations in February.

For India the issue is whether infiltration from across the border was continuing; for Pakistan, it is that Kashmir is a dispute and dialogue must continue, for a dialogue alone is evidence that it is a dispute.

India has noted Pakistan's repeated assertion that no terrorist activity was taking place on Pakistani soil (last articulated by Gen Pervez Musharraf at the India Today Conclave earlier this year). Therefore, it would like to see the setting up of an independent, verifying mechanism to ensure that the infrastructure of terrorism - camps from across the border - has been wound up.

The talks can be deemed to be a success if the two sides set up a structure for further talks""joint working groups or an experts group - that is announced tomorrow. They will be judged to have been a spectacular success if the two sides testify that there has been "progress on Kashmir"""the phrase used by Gen Musharraf at the India Today Conclave to describe forward movement in talks between India and Pakistan.

The Indian delegation, led by Shashank, included foreign Secretary-designate Shyam Saran; India's High Commissioner in Islamabad Shiv Shankar Menon, additional secretary in the external affairs ministry Meera Shankar; Joint Secretary Arun K Singh and senior officials.

The Pakistan side, headed by Khokhar, comprised its High Commissioner in New Delhi Aziz Ahmed Khan, additional secretary Salman Bashir, director-general (South Asia) Jalil Abbas Jilani, foreign office spokesman Masood Khan and senior officials.

The Pakistan foreign secretary will tomorrow call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh and National Security Adviser JN Dixit.