HVK Archives: Kashmir and the SAARC process
Kashmir and the SAARC process - The Pioneer
Saeed Naqvi
()
11 May 1997
Title : Kashmir and the SAARC process
Author : Saeed Naqvi
Publication : The Pioneer
Date : May 11, 1997
The end to apartheid in South Africa, the West Asian peace process and the
Anglo-Irish agreement on the question of northern Ireland are all projects, at
various stages of conception and implementation, that acquired acceleration only
after the Cold War had ended.
The Partition of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan almost coincided with
the beginnings of the Cold War, the two countries becoming identified with
opposing camps. It was, therefore, expected that the end of the Cold War would
introduce some momentum into Indo-Pak, rapprochement. The halting progress in
improving these relations, the complications over Kashmir, are issues that few
people on the subcontinent understand better than Prime Minister Inder Kumar
Gujral.
In fact, no Indian Prime Minister in recent years has been better placed to
achieve a breakthrough on Indo-Pak normalisation. The most important message in
Gujral's elevation from Foreign Minister to Prime Minister is precisely this;
there was universal consensus within the country on his bold articulation of
policy towards our neighbours. The foreign policy Gujral outlined as Minister for
External Affairs stands nationally endorsed; that is what his elevation as Prime
Minister means. All the participants at SAARC, particularly Pakistan's Nawaz
Sharif, would do well to keep this in mind. All the SAARC leaders will be doing
business with an Indian Prime Minister whose foreign policy has national
acceptance.
But that which has national acceptance is also circumscribed by security concerns.
This fact too stood out in bold relief in the fiasco over Bhabani Sen Gupta's
appointment. Gujral will be allowed elasticity to innovate not to upturn foreign
policy.
In other words, complicated relations like the ones with Pakistan will not be
amenable to quick fixes. What can be fixed quickly is an improvement in
atmospherics, even dramatic improvement. But the subsequent script which will
cover issues like Kashmir will have to be carefully written over an extended
period of time. Track two diplomacy is all very well for like-minded souls on the
two sides to meet periodically to clear the air. But preparation of well thought
out position papers by academics on both sides is a serious, time consuming
process.
That is why I have at the outset referred to three distinct areas of contention,
South Africa, West Asia and Ireland, which are haltingly (sometimes distressingly
so) but inexorably moving towards something approximating a solution.
Of course, no two situations are similar but how the apparent irreconcilable are
being harmonised in all those three situation is a study well worth making.
Talk to Thabo Mbeki, Alfred Nzo, chairmen of Anglo-American, Lonrho, and Kenneth
Kaunda at Chatham House in London and you will discover that the basic spadework
for the eventual breakthrough was initiated over a decade ago. The position papers
prepared long years ago came in handy once the hesitations imposed by the Cold War
gave way to a more certain touch. An interesting way to start this inquiry might
well be to have an informal chat with Frank Wisner who, as senior official on the
staff of Chester Crocker, US Under Secretary of State for South Africa a decade
ago, was one of the co-authors of the memorable expression, "constructive
engagement".
Israeli and Palestinian intellectuals started working jointly on the peace process
a decade ago. Ask Nabil Shaath, Yasser Arafat's Minister for Cooperation (he is a
great friend of our Planning Minister Yogender Alagh, having been to the same
University in the United States) and he will tell how clandestine contacts with
the Israelis were established.
Visit Prof. Ron Pundak, Executive Director Economic Cooperation Foundation in
Jerusalem and he will show you documents and maps indicating every small Israeli
settlement on the West Bank which would constitute bargaining chips as the process
gathers momentum. Every hiccup down the lines has been anticipated.
Even more engaging are conversations with Prof. Yair Hirschfeld of the University
of Haifa. His narrative is a first rate script for a film on secret diplomacy.
He tells the story how Shimon Peres met Palestinian interlocutors in the more
nondescript houses of common friends in Jerusalem. On one ocassion Peres pressed
the doorbell in the wrong block of flats. The janitor recognised him. Rents shot
up because word went around that Peres was renting an apartment in the block!
After John Major and Irish Premier, Albert Reynolds, signed the Downing Street
declaration in 1993, the Irish peace talks gathered momentum. Just as the West
Asian peace process accelerated after the secret Oslo contacts in 1993, the Irish
peace process also acquired dynamism after the British authorities established
clandestine links with the Sinn Fein and the IRA.
Where does the Irish peace process stand today? On the one hand is the commitment
by the British Government to respect the will of the majority in Northern Ireland.
The majority happens to be Protestant and wants the status quo, namely union with
Britain, preserved.
On the other hand is the European process, erasing many boundaries in Europe.
For
instance, I drove from Belfast to Dublin without even noticing a check post.
A
series of transborder organisations have been set up to promote tourism,
fisheries, dairy production, environmental protection and so on. The European
process is a dynamic one, introducing changes in perceptions on both sides.
Britain's commitment to the majority in Northern Ireland is a holding operation.
Cooperative relations between London and Dublin within the European framework
will
very, very gradually cause the problem of Northern Ireland to "disappear".
Does
not cooperation within SAARC have a similar potential for Kashmir, without either
side making dramatic compromises? Of course, no two situations are similar,
but
even so.
For more details you can also visit our organization website http://www.saarctourism.org
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