Looks like Pakistan has made its choice

When Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was here in late May at the invitation of then PM-designate Narendra Modi to attend his swearing in ceremony (along with other Saarc heads of government), the Pakistan leader had been left in little doubt that Islamabad’s interference in India’s internal affairs must cease if dialogue between the two neighbours was to be resumed and be meaningful. Mr Sharif got the drift and desisted from meeting the Kashmiri separatist leaders. It was on that basis that the foundation was laid for a meeting of the foreign secretaries of the two countries, which was subsequently fixed for August 25. This should have been evident to seasoned diplomatists in Pakistan. In the event, it was plain that any official Pakistani contact with the separatist crowd would be deemed unhelpful to the process and promise of the renewal of engagement.

Thus, no surprise was registered here when India on Monday announced the calling off of the foreign secretaries’ meeting scheduled to be held in Islamabad next Monday the minute Pakistan high commissioner Abdul Basit went ahead and met Shabir Shah, a secessionist representative, although foreign secretary Sujatha Singh had explicitly indicated to him over the phone what this could mean for the future of dialogue between the two sides. It is almost as if Pakistan had made up its mind to sacrifice the well-being of bilateral relations on the altar of maintaining in good trim its equation with the Kashmir secessionists and the Pakistan-based terrorists whose agendas these elements have historically advanced. It is hard to be sure at this stage if this is in fulfilment only of the long-running schema of Pakistan’s military establishment or if the Nawaz Sharif-led elected leadership is on board in order to stay afloat in the face of stiff domestic challenges to it thought by many to have been mounted at the behest of the military. Whatever the case, Pakistan has surrendered the prospect of a fresh beginning by Prime Minister Modi, provided the atmosphere was kept congenial by Islamabad.

The official Pakistani reaction to India calling off the talks is a decidedly weak one, as though it was made as a formal face-saver and no more. Islamabad has maintained that “traditionally” its officials have met separatists before official talks. There is nothing traditional about this. The trend was tolerated by New Delhi as an indulgence in recent years when the coalition era superseded the earlier Congress way of doing things. The previous system has clearly been restored, and this is a good thing. To be fair to the Modi dispensation, Pakistan was not kept in the dark about what to expect. Perhaps we should just let things lie until Pakistan shows awareness of basic common sense.