Manmohan-Sharif were practical to focus on LoC tension

New York: After the verbal jousting at the United Nations, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif used a one-hour meeting on Sunday to defuse border tensions with both sides agreeing to an immediate modest goal of having their military commanders meet to shore up the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC). Indian National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon said that Singh and Sharif had tasked senior military commanders with meeting “as soon as possible” to end violations of a ceasefire agreement which have become increasingly frequent in recent months. “They decided to ask the Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMOs) to suggest effective means to restore the ceasefire and ensure it remains in force and in place," Menon told reporters at a briefing in New York. An Indian diplomat told Firstpost that the proposal to have the Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMOs) sort out LoC ceasefire violations came about after India rejected several ideas floated by the Pakistani side, including one to have the two foreign secretaries meet. [caption id=“attachment_1141359” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Nawaz Sharif and Manmohan Singh during the meet. AFP[/caption] Though no time frame had been set, the hope is that this happens as soon as possible. The Prime Minister, according to Menon, told his Pakistani counterpart that such steps were a pre-condition to any improvement in relations with Pakistan. “The pre-conditions for forward movement in the relationship which they both desire is an improvement of the situation on the Line of Control where there have been repeated ceasefire violations,” said Menon. The outcome of the meeting is surely a modest one but it’s also pragmatic, given the spiraling violence along the Kashmir border which has become a source of enormous concern. Singh conveyed to Sharif that only action on terrorism emanating from Pakistani territory, starting with bringing the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack to book, would move other items like trade, economic ties and the broader dialogue forward. Sharif assured the Prime Minister that things would be fast-tracked once the Pakistani judicial team’s return from Mumbai after collecting depositions. “Nawaz Sharif said that was indeed Pakistan’s intentions and now that the Judicial Commission had returned from India after gathering evidence there would be further progress,” said Menon. Sharif raised Siachen and Sir Creek as possible deliverables in improving bilateral ties since some progress has been made towards solving these issues, but Singh stuck firmly on Sunday to the issue of terrorism, refusing to get drawn into any other discussion. Singh also raised the issue of Pakistan’s Punjab government, controlled by Sharif’s party and led by his brother Shahbaz Sharif, funding Jamaat-ul-Dawa, a humanitarian organisation that is in fact a cover for the Lashkar-e-Taiba’s militant activities. The Jamaat-ul-Dawa’s chairman Hafiz Saeed, is wanted in India for fomenting the 2008 Mumbai attacks. In 2012, the Obama administration put a $10 million US bounty on Saeed’s head and said it might galvanise Pakistan to take action against Saeed who excels in hate mongering against India and the US. A Pakistani journalist asked whether India took cognisance of Pakistani complaints that India was also an epicentre of terrorism. “No,” Menon shot back. “I wish we could say the same about Pakistan.” Sharif invited Singh to visit Pakistan but Menon’s assertion that no date has been fixed or is even being considered was a clear indication that the whole point of the New York meeting between the two leaders was to set realistic goals: make the LoC safe before engaging any further with Pakistan. As a part of the diplomatic dance, Singh invited Sharif to also visit India, which he accepted. Again no date is being considered — don’t expect to see Sharif in India any time soon. When a Pakistani journalist asked about the two sides renewing the composite dialogue, which has added train and bus links but made uneven progress since it was launched in 2004, Menon’s reply was crisp: “That stage has not come yet.” But he spelt out the rationale for Singh meeting Sharif on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. “Our overall impression of the meeting was that it was useful because it provided an opportunity for high-level contact on issues that are troubling the relationship,” Menon said. “We will now see how both sides take it forward in the next few months.” Pakistan Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani, sounded more upbeat. “It was an extremely positive meeting,” Jilani told a separate news conference. “The most significant impact was that the leaders expressed their commitment to have better relations between the two countries.” Asked if Pakistan shared India’s view that an end to violence on the Line of Control was necessary for the peace process to advance, Jilani said Pakistan agreed that a “conducive atmosphere” was better for dialogue that produces results. In his address to the UN General Assembly, Singh rejected Sharif’s demand for resolution of the Kashmir issue on the basis of UN Security Council resolutions, saying India favoured settlement of all issues on the basis of the Simla Agreement. “India is committed sincerely to resolving all issues with Pakistan, including the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, through bilateral dialogue on the basis of the Simla Agreement,” Singh told the annual General Assembly on Saturday. The Simla Agreement implies conversion of the Line of Control into a permanent border, an assurance that Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto had verbally given to Indira Gandhi in July 1972. Analysts say these appear to be standard negotiating positions rather than any irrevocable statement of intent on either government’s part. The outcome of Sunday’s meeting was on reasonable, if expected lines — a follow-up will depend on peace on the LoC and action against perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks. Analysts give Singh marks for astutely calculating that Sharif’s honeymoon in office will not last forever and deciding to strike when the iron is hot.