{"id":31712,"date":"2014-08-26T10:36:05","date_gmt":"2014-08-26T05:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/?p=31712"},"modified":"2016-02-05T16:45:53","modified_gmt":"2016-02-05T11:15:53","slug":"is-india-changing-the-course-of-engagement-with-pakistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/india\/is-india-changing-the-course-of-engagement-with-pakistan","title":{"rendered":"Is India changing the course of engagement with Pakistan?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Is<\/a><\/p>\n

The dynamics of India\u2019s foreign policy have changed; New Delhi\u2019s move to cancel foreign secretary level of talks which were to be held in Islamabad on August 25, hints it clearly. Apparent reasons behind kickstarting the talks were normalisation of frayed relations with Pakistan, with which dialogue has been stalled since January 2013. The last foreign secretary level talks between the two countries were held in Islamabad in September 2012.<\/p>\n

Following Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif\u2019s arrival in New Delhi on invitation for the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi on May 26, the two countries found it urgent to restart the stalled talks. India\u2019s newly elected Prime Minister Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Sharif, after holding bilateral talks, directed their officials to resume the process of putting nuts and bolts in to their chequered bilateral engagement structure. It was in this background, the date was fixed for the resumption of negotiations between the two countries which, in the last 67 years, have faced no steady growth in their relations. That too was done amidst the howl of protests from the opposition, as it didn\u2019t want India to start dialogue with Pakistan when the latter was continuing with ceasefire violations on the Line of Control.<\/p>\n

Data from the government officials shows that since Sharif\u2019s departure from New Delhi on May 27 and announcement in the date\u2019s (July 23) for the foreign secretary level talks, the Pakistani army violated the ceasefire 19 times of the total 60 such incidents being recorded along the LoC and international border in Jammu and Kashmir till now this year. These violations by the Pakistani army personnel, according to security agencies sources, are undertaken to facilitate infiltration across the LoC. This can be assumed from the fact that in the last three months, more than 50 bids by militants to cross the international border in Jammu and Kashmir were thwarted by the Border Security Force personnel guarding the areas.<\/p>\n

Despite this, New Delhi was not in hurry to raise black flag in protest against Pakistan and cancel the talks. But patience withered for India when even after reminding Islamabad that no meeting with separatists from Jammu and Kashmir should be held prior to the scheduled foreign secretary level talks, Pakistan\u2019s New Delhi-based High Commissioner Abdul Basit continued with meeting with Hurriyat leaders. It was seen as interference in India\u2019s internal affairs, prompting India to cancel the forthcoming meet between foreign secretary Sujatha Singh and her Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhary. \u201cThe Pakistani High Commissioner\u2019s meetings with these so-called leaders of the Hurriyat undermines the constructive diplomatic engagement initiated by Prime Minister Modi in May on his very first day in office,\u201d the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. It also reflected the anguish of Indian establishment. Yet, New Delhi\u2019s sensitivity was not reciprocated, rather the Pakistani High Commissioner continued on meeting the Hurriyat leaders even after forceful snub and cancellation of talks by India. Defending his acts, High Commissioner Basit said Kashmiri separatists are stakeholders in the peace process between India and Pakistan and that he followed only the past convention, when before every big talk there used to be meetings with Hurriyat leaders.<\/p>\n

Indeed, in the past 15 years, Pakistani leadership and bureaucrats had developed a practice of holding talks with separatists before the start of any talks with India. This they used to do amidst India\u2019s perfunctory protest. Even last year Pakistan Prime Minister Sharif\u2019s special envoy and Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaz Aziz held a meeting with Kashmiri separatists, despite howl of protests from India. The then External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid had described the meeting as \u201cinsensitive\u201d and \u201ccounterproductive.\u201d<\/p>\n

But this time around, with Modi at the helm of the country\u2019s affairs, New Delhi had to say enough is enough.\u00a0\u201cEither talk to separatists or talk to us\u201d, Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh told Pakistani High Commissioner in no uncertain terms. New Delhi, in fact, went by rule book and reminded Pakistan about the principles of the Simla agreement and the Lahore declaration- both of whom maintain no stake holders other than India and Pakistan in continuing with peace process between the two countries. \u201cThe only path available to Pakistan is to resolve outstanding issues through a peaceful dialogue within the framework and principles of the Simla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration,\u201d MEA said in a terse statement.<\/p>\n

With this, for the first time in decades, Pakistani establishment was forced to realize that it can\u2019t have a cake and eat it too. Though following this, it has made noises and termed the cancellation \u201cunfortunate,\u201d yet the nail that India has pushed into the heads of the Pakistani authorities by cancelling the secretary-level meeting has left Islamabad seethe with anger also.\u00a0Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam, who had a stint with the Pakistani mission in India, argued that High Commissioner Basit did not interfere in India\u2019s internal affairs, \u201cthat is just a pretext.\u201d But New Delhi is firm on its stand; it has made it clear that it wants friendship with neighbours and for this it can\u2019t sacrifice its national interest. Perhaps, time has come for Islamabad to understand this, especially when India is changing the course of its engagement policy.<\/p>\n

Read More:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kashmir Solidarity Day: Facts You Must Know<\/a><\/strong>
\nIs India changing the course of engagement with Pakistan?<\/a>
\nWhy India And Pakistan Were Separated ?<\/a>
\nCan The Kashmir Issue Be Ever Resolved Through Peace Talks?<\/a><\/p>\n

How Can India Benefit From Becoming a Member of SCO?<\/a>
\nWhy India And Pakistan Were Separated ?<\/a>
\nIndia-Pakistan Relations: Is Spring Around the Corner?<\/a>
\nIndia Pakistan Border Dispute<\/a>
\nPakistan: Intensifying Anti-India Agenda<\/a>
\nIndia-Pakistan tension on borders<\/a>
\nIs India changing the course of engagement with Pakistan?<\/a>
\nIndia worries: Chinese troops training Pakistan army\u00a0<\/a>
\nIndia\u2019s 10 Most Wanted Men<\/a>
\nIndia\u2019s foreign trade \u2013 Rising beyond mere relations<\/a>
\nBilateral Issues India Needs To Resolve<\/a>
\nNeighbouring Countries of india<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The dynamics of India\u2019s foreign policy have changed; New Delhi\u2019s move to cancel foreign secretary level of talks which were to be held in Islamabad on August 25, hints it clearly. Apparent reasons behind kickstarting the talks were normalisation of frayed relations with Pakistan, with which dialogue has been stalled since January 2013. The last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1801,"featured_media":32030,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11315],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-31712","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-india"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1801"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31712"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53465,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31712\/revisions\/53465"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}