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A sense of real progress

As the fourth round of the composite dialogue between India and Pakistan got under way with the March 13-14 meeting between the Foreign Secretaries, the delegations exuded a new sense of purpose. There is no indication yet of concrete decisions emerging in any of the eight subject areas that figure in the dialogue. However, it is clear that both New Delhi and Islamabad have moved from the positions they took before the process began. Instead of viewing confidence-building measures as a trap to be avoided, Pakistan has now begun to propose several on its own. India, for its part, has accepted that conflict resolution need not wait until CBMs and people-to-people linkages are firmly in place. Pakistan believes the time has come to move on from conflict management towards the resolution of disputes. Specifically, it is waiting for a response to the `ideas' floated by President Pervez Musharraf for the resolution of the Kashmir issue. Foreign Secretary Shiv Shanker Menon has correctly emphasised the importance of "maintaining an atmosphere free from violence and terror to sustain popular support in India for the dialogue process."

A positive indicator is that discussions on the Siachen issue, involving the Defence Secretaries and Directors General of Military Operations, will be held as early as possible. This pointless and extremely costly dispute revolving around one of the world's least hospitable places should have been resolved a long time ago. The differences between the two sides are known to be small; Pakistan has been more forthcoming on this issue; and India needs to take a bold step forward to apply closure on Siachen. As Secretary-level meetings are to be held between April and July 2007 on the other aspects of the composite dialogue, New Delhi and Islamabad need to keep in mind that the process could lose momentum unless concrete results are soon produced in respect of the less contentious issues.

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