First hurdle cleared

Now irrigate the words of peace with concrete measures

However faint the prospect may have seemed, the possibility of a complete breakdown in talks loomed ominously over the Agra summit from the very day General Pervez Musharraf accepted Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s invitation — thereby threatening to return the subcontinent to a confrontation much more dangerous than that which holds now. It is thus that good news hunters have something to cheer. Even as the two leaders carry forward their deliberations — held in the very cordial atmosphere their spokespersons never tire of reminding us about — into Monday morning, the fact that they have resolved to meet again promises to take the summit beyond the threshold requisite for it to be declared at least a qualified success. Institutionalisation of bilateral dialogue has been a worthy goal chased by the well-meaning and the pragmatic on either side of the border for 54 long years. It is a goal that has seemed tantalisingly close every so often, with both sides agreeing upon the level at which they would persevere with their many contentious issues, only to revert to a chilling silence upon yet another face-off. It happened after Shimla, for instance, it happened despite the Gujral-Sharif eight-point composite dialogue formula, and it happened after Lahore.

This little game of hopscotch must not be repeated after Agra. Accordingly, all resolve about sustained engagement, all utterances about ushering in a long overdue phase of peace and cooperation in the region, must be irrigated with concrete measures. These could be in the form of progress on the Tulbul navigation project, on demilitarising Siachen, on economic cooperation, on social and cultural interaction, and so on. But Pakistan’s president is correct, Indo-Pak relations cannot improve unless Jammu and Kashmir is taken up. Here, for the contours of a resolution to be even hazarded, it is imperative that violence is reduced, through mutual restraint along the international border and the line of control and through reduced Pakistani support to terrorism within the state. Musharraf has stated that Kashmir cannot be solved militarily; a Pakistani gesture to prove the sentiment will perforce elicit a matching conciliatory move from India. And above all else, no matter what agreements or misunderstandings that may ensue, the effort at nuclear risk reduction mentioned in the Lahore declaration must be taken up forthwith.

The success of a summit, however, is also dependent on atmospherics. Beyond the symbolism of Musharraf’s respectful words at Rajghat and the Pakistani flag fluttering benignly at Rashtrapati Bhawan, the atmosphere has been cultivated by a determined bid at calm acceptance of each other’s views, with neither side attempting to demonstrate a monopoly of the best tunes. President Narayanan has referred to Jinnah’s words that the real unfinished business of Partition is establishing Indo-Pak friendship. It is a friendship that, however, can only be fostered on the basis of concrete, pragmatic steps, not merely by chorusing shiny, emotional words. And it is an evolving friendship whose durability would be inversely proportional to the fierceness of the violence in Jammu and Kashmir. Musharraf and Vajpayee therefore have their task cut out — at Agra, and beyond that at the various rendezvous they have planned in the months ahead.