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Qureshi’s India visit begins tomorrow

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi will leave here on Friday on a four-day visit to India, which officials described as a “continuation” of the dialogue process between the two countries.

The visit will be Mr. Qureshi’s second bilateral mission abroad as the Foreign Minister of the new democratically elected dispensation in Pakistan.

The first visit was to Kabul earlier this month, but was overshadowed within days by threats from Afghan President Hamid Karzai to send troops into the Pakistani territory to hunt down Taliban leaders hiding in tribal areas.

Mr. Qureshi can be confident that his New Delhi visit will not blow back with the fast and furious comeback that followed his Afghan trip.

Despite its ups and downs, the four-year-old peace process, although canned by several sections of Pakistani opinion for not yielding any “tangible” solution to the “core” Kashmir issue or other disputes such as Siachen or Sir Creek, has seen India and Pakistan evolve into their diplomatic best while managing mutual concerns.

Tuesday’s meeting of the Joint Anti-Terror Mechanism was an illustration. The one-day meeting ended with a bland joint statement that the two sides shared “fresh information” on terrorist incidents.

The two sides reviewed the follow-up steps taken on information shared during the last two meetings of the mechanism, according to the statement.

They also agreed to continue “to identify counter-terrorism measures, assist in investigations through exchange of specific information and for preventing violence and terrorist acts.”

Both teams appear to have agreed not to reveal any more details to the media.

A visit by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in May has already placed New Delhi and the new Pakistan People’s Party-led government on the same page with regard to the eight-subject composite dialogue process that began in 2004.

During Mr. Mukherjee’s visit, the two sides agreed to start the fifth round of this process in mid-July. India expressed its support to the new government in Islamabad, and Pakistan said it was ready for a “grand reconciliation” with India through dialogue to resolve all outstanding issues “with self-respect and dignity.”

Mr. Qureshi’s meeting with Mr. Mukherjee in New Delhi will seek to consolidate the spirit of goodwill that permeated their first meeting. The visit may also aim to signal to India that despite its multiple preoccupations and problems, the new government in Pakistan is in charge and consolidating itself.

“Essentially the visit is the continuation of the dialogue process, and it is in response to an invitation to him when the Indian Foreign Minister was here,” said Foreign Office spokesman Mohammed Sadiq. “It will cover the overall relationship.”

He said “all issues are on the table” for discussion, including the range of subjects in the composite dialogue process, as well as the India-Pakistan joint commission.

Interestingly, the Foreign Ministry invited a delegation of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference to hold consultations with the new leadership in Pakistan days before Mr. Qureshi’s visit to India.

On Wednesday, Mr. Qureshi met the APHC delegation. A Foreign Ministry statement said Mr. Qureshi briefed the delegation on his meeting with Mr. Mukherjee last month.

The Foreign Minister reaffirmed to the delegation that Pakistan stood for the resolution of the Kashmir issue in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people and that Kashmiris must be associated with the dialogue process.

The Foreign Minister stated that there was complete political consensus in Pakistan in support of the Kashmir cause.

According to the statement, Mr. Farooq said the Pakistani invitation to APHC leadership had sent “positive signals to the Kashmiri people” of the importance that Pakistan attached to the wishes of Kashmiri people in the search for a just and peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue.

The APHC delegation, which arrived in Pakistan last weekend, has met almost the entire range of Pakistan’s political leadership, including PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, President Pervez Musharraf and a host of others, including Opposition leaders.

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