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Monday, June 28, 2010
New phase of Indo-Pak talks to bring peace, prosperity: diplomats* Say US pressure led to resumption of dialogue between arch-rivals
Iqbal Choudhry
ISLAMABAD: The new phase of bilateral relations between Pakistan and India will bring peace, stability and prosperity in South Asia, diplomats observed on Sunday.
These statements of different diplomats came at a time when both Islamabad and New Delhi held foreign secretaries' level talks at the SAARC summit. The talks helped both the countries to explore new dimensions for solving their longstanding disputes. The diplomats declared the restoration of the dialogue process between the arch-rivals as a 'positive development'.
According to the diplomats, it was a golden opportunity for both the countries to learn from their past mistakes and create a space where the leadership of both the countries could reach a permanent solution to all of their outstanding problems. "Both Pakistan and India have different tones. They could catch the train, which brings peace and stability to the region," a diplomat told Daily Times on condition of anonymity. He said that the international community wanted both the countries to sit on the negotiations table.
Responding to a question, he did not rule out that world powers such as the US would have pressurised both the countries to resume a meaningful dialogue for solving all their problems. He said that before the announcement of the foreign secretary-level talks, India had informed Pakistan that the talks would only focus on the issue of terrorism but at the last moment, India changed its position and agreed to talk on all outstanding issues. The diplomat termed the resumption of the talks as a 'success' of Pakistan and said that some 'external pressures' forced both the countries to start a new chapter of bilateral relations. He said that the dialogue process between both the countries had achieved some 'meaningful' results but what really mattered was that both followed the right path.
Another diplomat from the Far East said that Pakistan and India started a new phase of bilateral relations due to the US policy in the region.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk