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| Why is Pak media upbeat for first time in 68 years? | | Indo-Pak dialogue | | Early Times Report
jammu, Dec 11: It is perhaps for the first time in 68 years that the Pakistani media is feeling quite upbeat. It has welcomed the resumption of Indo-Pak comprehensive dialogue. It has also described it as a "major breakthrough and a pleasant turn" in bilateral ties following three top-level meetings in 10 days.
On November 30, Indian Prime Minister and his Pakistani counterpart met at Paris for less than two minutes - a meeting that cleared the decks for the resumption of talks between the two nations. On December 6, National Security Advisors and Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan met at Bangkok for over four hours, where the agenda for talks was given a final shape.
On December 9, Indian Foreign Minister met with Pakistan Prime Minister and his Foreign Affairs Advisor at Islamabad for more than two hours and the meetings led to the declaration of Indo-Pak joint statement to the effect that talks will go on even if Pakistan continued to bleed India with a thousand-cut; even if Islamabad refused to handover to India perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. These were the three "top-level meetings" the Pakistani media has been referring to and giving prominent place in its stories on the resumption of the Indo-Pak composite dialogue process.
Pakistan's leading newspaper Dawn has described the resumption of talks between the two countries as a "major breakthrough". Why not? "The 'Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue' as it has been named will include all elements covered under the previous versions of the talks - peace and security, confidence-building measures, Jammu and Kashmir, Siachen, Sir Creek, Wullar Barrage / Tulbul Navigation Project, economic and commercial cooperation, counter-terrorism, narcotics control and humanitarian issues, people-to-people exchanges and religious tourism," it has reported. In other words, the Dawn has described the Islamabad declaration is the Pakistan's great diplomatic triumph.
Another leading Pakistani daily, The Express Tribune, has also said almost the same thing. It wrote that "ten days and three meetings - that's all it took Pakistan and India to break the deadlock in their strained relations". It further said that a "chance meeting" between Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan in Paris and surprise talks between their National Security Advisers in Bangkok led to a formal meeting between their top foreign policy officials in Islamabad on Wednesday which produced a major agreement: resumption of a stalled dialogue process".
Yet another Pakistani paper, The Nation, took the same line. Its headline "Composite dialogue goes comprehensive" captured the essence of new format of talks which will be not much different than the one suspended after Mumbai attacks. "All the pillars of the composite dialogue would be part of the comprehensive bilateral dialogue and more things could be added to it," it wrote. Commenting on Swaraj's meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, it further said, "They agreed on increased contacts at all level and resolving all the outstanding issues between the two nuclear neighbours through dialogue, during the meeting which lasted for almost an hour".
The News International termed the resumption of dialogue as a "pleasant turn" in ties of the two nations. "The mercurial relations between Pakistan and India took a pleasant turn when both countries decided to restart the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue previously known as the Composite Dialogue," it said.
All the Pakistani commentators and anchors too have commended the Islamabad declaration. So much so, they have praised Prime Minister Modi and foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj. The fact that they have been hailing them speaks for itself.
It bears recalling that before Paris, the Prime Ministers of the two nations had held bilateral meeting in Russian city of Ufa on July 10, 2015, where they decided that their NSAs would meet to discuss all "terror-related" issues. However, Pakistan had called-off Pakistan National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz' visit after New Delhi made it clear that he would not be allowed to meet Kashmiri separatist leaders in the Indian capital. In August last year, India called off Foreign Secretary-level talks over the same issue.
While the Pakistani media has been hailing the Islamabad declaration and describing it as Pakistan's diplomatic victory over India, bulk of the Indian media and most of the non-BJP parties, including the Congress, the Shiv Sena, Janata Dal United and the Samajwadi Party, have been questioning the very foreign policy of the Modi Government vis-à-vis Pakistan, saying nothing changed after the Ufa Indo-Pak joint declaration on the scourge of terrorism. The Zee TV, IBN7, NewsX and other channels like Times Now have all questioned the Indian foreign policy. As for the public response in India, it is not positive; it's really negative. Even the VHP, a part of Sangh Parivar of which the BJP is also a part, has condemned the Islamabad declaration, saying it is a complete sell-out.
The positive response that the Islamabad declaration has evoked in Pakistan and the Pakistani appreciation of Prime Minister Modi and Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj needs to be viewed in the light of the fact that it was New Delhi which yielded. |
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