What emerged from the four-day foreign secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan that concluded in Islamabad on Sunday night may not be dramatic but they certainly mark a major stride towards normalising bilateral relations. Since India had unilaterally given up hostile propaganda and provocative action against Pakistan, the agreement to do so does not entail much to it. The decision to set up six working groups, each of which will address one basic problem like Jammu & Kashmir, Siachen, drug-trafficking and terrorism, is in conformity with the step-by-step approach the leaderships of the two countries have adopted for solving bilateral issues.

Given the enormity of the differences that have kept the two subcontinent neighbours apart for such a long time, there cannot be any cut-and-dried solutions. In fact, the very idea of letting the officials grapple with the problems is to narrow down the differences before the political leaderships can step in and sew them up. The conversation between Prime Minister I.K. Gujral and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on the hot line that has just been established which is in itself a major step to bridge the communication gap provided the right backdrop for the Salman Haider-Shamshad Ahmed talks. After all, it was the Prime Minister-level talks at Male early last month that set the atmospherics for the retreat diplomacy that was initiated at the picturesque Kurumba island and continued now at the mountainous Muree.

The idea of having individual working groups to sort out intricate bilateral problems is a time-tested one. The decision to try it out in the case of Indo-Pakistan relations was also decided by the two Prime Ministers during their meeting at Male. It was the effort of such a working group that facilitated an understanding on certain border disputes between India and China. In that case too, it was over a period of time and after several rounds of talks that differences were narrowed and an agreement was finally reached. The success of the working groups will, however, depend upon the extent of support they get from the political leaders. It is in this context that the experiment has generated considerable hopes.

Since strengthening of Indo-Pak relations is central to the Gujral doctrine, which already guides India's relations with all its neighbours, the commitment of the Gujral Government on putting Indo-Pak relations on an even keel is beyond reproach. Similarly, Nawaz Sharif, who obtained a massive mandate in last year's elections and who has shown extraordinary courage in curtailing the powers of his President and dismissing a corrupt Naval chief, has in his own way been extending the hand of friendship to India. The commonality of approach of both the leaders is what makes the situation ideal for hammering out an agreement on all contentious issues. Nonetheless, the fact that most of the disputes date back to Partition cannot be lost sight of. For instance, it is futile to expect a quick solution of the vexed Kashmir dispute, however sincere the two leaders may be. But that does not mean an understanding on Siachen or drug-trafficking should inexorably wait.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.