‘Failed’ Feb.25 talks perceived as failure of Pak diplomacy

ISLAMABAD - The foreign secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan on Thursday failed to yield any substantial results, and are being seen as a failure on part of the Pakistani diplomacy in that country.

For some, Pakistani diplomats have failed to achieve the target set for the talks, which resumed after a hiatus of 14 months.

“Pakistan has failed to achieve the goals of time-and-result-oriented dialogue, the revival of the composite peace process and the resumption of talks from the pre-Mumbai attacks status. It has also failed to hand over a dossier listing evidence of Indian involvement in the Tribal Areas. While the country’s diplomats brought up the distribution of water, they failed to move India,” The Daily Times quoted an official, as saying.

Although the talks ended without any ‘breakthrough’, there were no ‘breakaway’ either, as both countries have agreed to remain in ‘touch’ in future also.

There were no joint press conference neither any joint statement issued after the meeting between Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir, which indicates that the vacuum between the two nuclear power countries is so large that it can not vanish in just a single table talk.

Pakistani diplomats believed that a joint statement would have ensured that both India and Pakistan are really eager to resolve issues that have been lingering for decades between them.

“We had hoped that a joint statement would be issued to … show that the two sides are set, in earnest, to tackle their issues,” The Daily Times quoted a senior official, as saying.

Bashir described meeting the with his Indian counterpart Nirupama Rao, as ‘useful’ and said it could be a good platform to restart broader bilateral discussions, but added that the two sides should not link individuals or incidents of terror to the talks.

He also said Pakistan is taking action against terrorists for its own national interest and the International community has hailed its efforts in this regard.

Bashir added that Pakistan is not the epicenter of terrorism, but is a victim and the country has witnessed hundreds of Mumbai type terror attacks.

“India has had one 26/11, we have had a 1000 Mumbais,” he said during a press conference at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.

Bashir also harped on Pakistan’s traditional stand on Kashmir and said that the issue of Kashmir is the core one and nobody can be dismissive about it.

“Kashmir can be addressed in a more meaningful manner through the composite dialogue process. We did voice our concerns over the human rights violation in Kashmir. The focus of our talks (with the Indian side) was Kashmir,” he said. (ANI)