Cynicism in air as India, Pak decide to talk

It’s official. Foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan will meet in New Delhi on Thursday, February 25. Salman Bashir called Nirupama Rao on Friday to confirm he will accept her invitation for talks extended over phone last month, after Pakistan prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani’s office announced the decision earlier in the day.

But as Rao and Bashir prepare for crucial talks, there is general cynicism about the outcome and expectations remain low.
Many are asking whether there is any point in engaging Pakistan unless much more is done to ensure terror groups across the border do not attack India.

Indian officials have been cautious and emphasised that the foreign secretary-level talks will focus on New Delhi’s concerns on terror. They said the talks could not be regarded as resumption of composite dialogue.

“We understand the need for dialogue, the time has come to engage. No relationship can remain static, cannot take a rigid position on talks,” a senior official explained.

“We need to be pragmatic,” the official added.

Former foreign secretary Lalit Mansingh said New Delhi decided on engagement basically when it became clear that continuing not to talk would not yield dividends. Soon after 26/11, for 14 long months, India refused to budge, but it has now realised that the strategy has outgrown its usefulness.

Also, prime minister Manmohan Singh sincerely believes India has to come to terms with its neighbours and try to engage even a difficult country like Pakistan. Though the joint declaration in Sharma-el Sheikh singed him, the prime minister believes the time has come to try again.

“It is an incremental process and we will review the state of bilateral relations when the foreign secretaries meet,” another senior official said. “We will take it from there,” the official added.