The Hindu : International / India & World : Relief in Pakistan over outcome

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Sep 09, 2004

International

International - India & World

Relief in Pakistan over outcome

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, SEPT. 8. The decision of New Delhi and Islamabad to begin a second round of composite dialogue in December has been greeted with relief in Pakistan.

At the same time, there is a widespread view that "little movement" on the Kashmir issue does not augur well for strengthening relations.

An amazing aspect is the absence of any negative reactions by religious parties. The Jamaat-e-Islami, the largest religious outfit, was spearheading opposition to the Lahore process. This time around the party has maintained a low profile.

Criticism of the peace process by party leaders is confined to aspects relating to who has gained how much and how New Delhi has got away without conceding much.

Hardliners like the erstwhile chief of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hafeez Sayeed, and the Hizbul Mujahideen chief, Syed Salahuddin, have called the whole process a "trick" by India to convert the Line of Control into the International Border. However, there is little evidence to suggest that their viewpoint is popular among the people.

The former Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) Premier, Sardar Qayyum, has said the outcome of the talks was as per expectations. "The expectation was that talks would not go beyond fixing [the] dates for [the] next round of talks. Pakistan's announcement to continue [the] dialogue process despite the India's rigid stand was reflective of its mental and ideological defeat. There is no justification of talks for talks."

In contrast, the Pakistan media counselled patience for resolution of Kashmir and other issues. The English daily, Dawn, in its editorial, suggested that the two nations make progress on less intractable issues to create a more conducive atmosphere for the settlement of the Kashmir problem.

A failure: Salahuddin

The Hizbul Mujahideen chief and Muttahida Jehad Council chairman, Syed Salahuddin, has termed the outcome a "failure" and urged the world community to use its influence to bring peace to South Asia by resolving the outstanding issue of Kashmir. He said the people of Jammu and Kashmir and the Mujahideen had not hoped that the meeting of the Ministers would lead to a solution, and the outcome was not far from expectations.

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Relief in Pakistan over outcome