As expected, the February 25 meeting of the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan was only an ice-breaker. The "ice" had set upon the composite dialogue when India broke it off in a huff, following the November 2007 terrorist attack in Mumbai. As Indian External Affairs Secretary, Nirupama Rao said, "The Mumbai attack erased the trust and confidence that the two countries had painstakingly built during the period 2004-07." India remains a prisoner to its emotions, stoked by its hefty "size" and resources.
Though generously describing the talks as "an encouraging step," in the Lok Sabha, India's external affairs minister, S.M. Krishna, added the caveat that the future of bilateral dialogue with Pakistan would depend upon Islamabad's response to India's "core concerns on terrorism." In other words, Pakistan must put the alleged Pakistani masterminds of the Mumbai attacks, named by India, on trial, as a precondition to reopening the composite dialogue. It was the same inflexible attitude that Ms. Rao displayed at the talks.
According to reports "the Indian move to invite Pakistan for talks followed the recent visit to Delhi of U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates who warned that Al Qaeda and regional terrorist groups were determined to incite another war between India and Pakistan." If true, it is a sad reflection on the intellectual maturity of India's leadership, that America, from half a hemisphere away, should goad them to go back to the negotiating table with someone who is their next door neighbor.
Indian leadership needs to realize that it cannot dictate to Pakistan. Each bellicose statement and every belligerent posture from New Delhi threatens to lower Pakistan's nuclear threshold as a natural response, which is not a desirable situation. Of course, Pakistan must demonstrate its sincerity towards allaying India's fears. But India too must reciprocate. Both sides need to realize the truth that "Peace hath her victories, no less renowned than War" and that the road to peace is through an open-hearted dialogue with a genuine resolve to settle all issues - from Kashmir to terrorism.
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