India-Pakistan talks crashland

They talked, then balked. After over three hours of confabulations between foreign secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir, the communication gap between the two countries appeared as wide as before the 26/11 attacks.

With the two sides not even clear that they were talking about the same thing, the chances of another bilateral round appeared dim. In the post-talks briefing, Rao said India and Pakistan had taken the “first step towards rebuilding trust”, but the trust vanished soon after Bashir’s briefing, when he spoke against India’s hectoring tone on terrorism. “If you keep saying that Pakistan is the source of all your troubles, I am sorry, it is short-sightedness,” he said.

Once Bashir’s briefing ended at the Pakistan High Commission, the two sides went into a covert slug-fest. Highly placed sources in the government accused Bashir, who had been invited by Rao for the dialogue, of taking his brief from the Pakistan military. 

“The talks were cordial but Pakistan’s briefing was acrimonious,” the sources said.

While expectations were low on both sides, Pakistan was able to forcefully make the point that it was not willing to be lectured to by India. Pakistan believes that it is speaking from a position of strength as it is pivotal for the success of US and Nato strategy in Afghanistan. It is thus laying down the rules of engagement and telling New Delhi where to get off.

``We don’t need sermons on terrorism from anyone. We are not seeking acknowledgment of our efforts, but simply saying we need to cooperate to fight terrorism. This is necessary not just for the region but for the whole world,’’ Bashir told reporters. His point was that Pakistan was as much a victim of terror as India.

``We have suffered hundreds of Mumbais,’’ Bashir explained, and said in 2008 there were 727 terror attacks in Pakistan. In 2009, the figure rose to 1,947, and in 2010 so far the number was 369. The number of civilians killed during this period was 5,356.

India had an answer to Bashir. ``Pakistan is the victim of its own creation while India is the victim of Pakistan’s creation.’’

There is no roadmap for further engagement between the two hostile neighbours. In the immediate aftermath of 26/11, Pakistan was pleading for a dialogue with India. But now a more confident Pakistan is willing to wait and give India time to decide whether it wants engagement.`` Pakistan  does not believe in cosmetic engagement and that India lectures us and demands we do this and that….We  are not desperate for talks,’’ Bashir said.

India said that it was not ``lecturing’’ Pakistan but had raised genuine concerns about terrorism from Pakistani soil which had killed so many Indian citizens.

``The Mumbai attack erased the trust and confidence that the two countries had painstakingly built during 2004-07. The recent Pune attack, which is still under investigation, is yet another reminder that our citizens remain vulnerable to terrorist violence,’’ Rao said.