India and Pakistan agree to talks
India and Pakistan took a giant leap to put more than a half-century of bloodshed behind them, agreeing today to start talks next month on core disputes of nationalism and religion that have taken the nuclear-armed nations into three wars.
The talks will touch on all topics, including the flashpoint issue of Kashmir, foreign ministers from both countries said in a joint statement.
“There are no winners or losers,” Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf said in a press conference in Islamabad following the announcement.
“I think victory is for the world – for all those peace loving people of the world. Victory is for all the people of India and Pakistan.
“Victory is for the people of Kashmir who have suffered for all these years, who are suffering. I would say victory is to the moderates in India and the moderates in Pakistan.”
Musharraf, wearing a black suit instead of his green military uniform, gave credit for the deal to the ”vision” and “statesmanship” of Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He said the two men sealed the agreement early today in a phone call following their historic face-to-face meeting in the Pakistan capital a day earlier.
The surprise agreement followed two days of leadership talks under the cover of a major South Asian regional summit that provided the impetus for Vajpayee’s visit to Islamabad.
Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha said details, including the location of the talks and the level at which they will be held, were still to be worked out, but that the negotiations would be ongoing and comprehensive.
He expressed optimism the talks would lead to a lasting peace agreement, including on the issue of Kashmir. The Himalayan region is divided between the two countries, but claimed by both in its entirety. The dispute has claimed at least 65,000 lives since 1989.
“The two leaders are confident that the resumption of the composite dialogue will lead to the peaceful settlement of all bilateral issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, to the satisfaction of both sides,” Sinha said, reading from the joint declaration.
A high-ranking Indian official said the talks would revolve around eight points, including Kashmir and two other territorial spats, fighting terrorism, trade and confidence building measures.
The meetings between Vajpayee, Musharraf and Pakistani Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali on Sunday and Monday were the first between Indian and Pakistani leaders in more than two years, and they occurred in an atmosphere of optimism after months of tit-for-tat steps to improve relations.
The two countries have called a ceasefire between their troops faced off in the mountain region of Kashmir, resumed high-level diplomatic ties and restored transportation links.
But there had been no indication such a breakthrough was possible, and both sides had sought to dampen any expectations ahead of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation summit, which concluded today. Before leaving for Islamabad, the 79-year-old Vajpayee said that discussion of bilateral issues had no place at the summit.
The Indian leader flew home Tuesday over a South Asian landscape that has undergone a sea change. He made no comment on the agreement before boarding his plane at Islamabad’s airport, seen off by Pakistani officials.
The deal came on the heels of two assassination attempts against Musharraf in December, at least one of which was believed to be carried out by militants of Jaish-e-Mohammed, an Islamic militant group involved in the Kashmir fighting.
Musharraf, 60, has earned the wrath of militant groups since he backed the US led war to oust the hard-line Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan, and began a crackdown at home.
To push the dialogue forward, Vajpayee demanded that any Pakistani connection to violence, hostility and terrorism in Kashmir must stop, Sinha said. Musharraf assured him that he would not permit territory under Pakistan’s control to be used to support terrorism.
India has long maintained that Islamabad has given support to a slew of Islamic militant groups fighting against its control of part of Kashmir. Pakistan has denied claims it harbours the militants, saying its support is strictly political and diplomatic.
The South Asian giants fought wars in 1948, 1965 and 1971 and have engaged in many more deadly skirmishes. More than one million people are believed to have died during the 1947 partition of India and Pakistan after the subcontinent gained independence from Britain.
Tens of millions of Muslims migrated to the newly created Islamic Republic of Pakistan, while an equal number of Hindus left their belongings to migrate to predominantly Hindu India.
The main cause of their continued dispute is Kashmir, a predominantly Muslim region whose Hindu leader chose to become part of India. Pakistan has been demanding a referendum on the fate of the region ever since. Despite two UN resolutions, no vote has ever been held due to Indian objections.
