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| Rescheduling of FS level talks a positive sign | | | It seems that Pakistan harbours hope for fixing a new date for the meeting between two Foreign secretaries.Its hope is the result of India's insistence on taking action against those who had engineered the Pathankot terror attack on the air base without cancelling the proposed talks.In fact New Delhi too remained mum when Pakistan announced its desire to reschedule the foreign secretary level talks as it could not find the atmosphere conducive for holding the talks on January 15.That Islamabad is interested in keeping the channels of dialogue open is indicated by the latest statement of Pakistan Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz in which he has said Pakistan and India are working on finalising new dates soon for the Foreign Secretary-level talks.Both countries are in touch and new dates for the talks would be finalised soon, Aziz has stated. It may be mentioned here that both India and Pakistan had on Thursday agreed mutually to defer the Foreign Secretary level talks that were to take place in Islamabad on January 15. The two sides have agreed to hold the parleys in the "very near future". India had sought action by Pakistan on the evidence provided for apprehending the Jaish-e-Mohammad militants suspected to have been involved in the January 2 attack on IAF airbase in Pathankot.
And rightly India has linked the fate of the talks to the Pak action against JeM that had masterminded the Pathankot attack.Though the JeM chief Masood Azhar has been rounded up but Islamabad is yet to divulge the name of the jail he is lodged in. However, a number of JeM activists have been arrested and some of the offices of JeM sealed. This action is a fraction of what India actually wants.If left to New Delhi it would desire that top fundamentalists,including Masood Azhar and Hafiz Saeed be arrested and their offices be sealed. India would wish that Azhar and Saeed were not able to enjoy the liberty of free movement and success in organizing public meetings and rallies where they have been spitting venom against India.Well, if Islamabad really is interested in a meaningful dialogue process it should initiate action against terrorists of various hues.Let it close the camps where militants are imparted arms training.
What may ultimately motivate Islamabad to initiate action against terrorists and their handlers is the growing pressure being mounted by Washington which is keen on seeing talks between India and Pakistan begin for promoting peace in the south Asian region. And again the the US on Saturday said that it should come as a shock to no one that terrorist groups would try to undermine the Indo-Pak peace process by carrying out attacks, as it encouraged the two countries to continue the dialogue."It should come as a shock to no one that terrorist groups will try to undermine those sorts of efforts by conducting spectacular attacks, to sow fear and to hopefully sow doubt in the minds of national leaders towards a level of cooperation that can have a practical effect," State Department spokesman John Kirby has said..And Washington does not want to see that happen and it feels encouraged by the dialogue that has recently taken place between India and Pakistan, and the US would like to see that continue. John Kirby has said the US wants India and Pakistan to "continue to have a dialogue and to continue to look for ways to cooperate against a common threat. He said that Washington has talked about this not long ago at a recent conversation between both Prime Ministers (Nawaz) Sharif and (Narendra) Modi.The meeting between Sharif and Modi was a welcome sign, both condemning the terrorist attack on the air station and expressing their shared commitment to fighting terrorism. That was not a insignificant discussion that they had, nor was it an insignificant commitment that they made, and it's exactly the kind of commitment that the US wants India and Pakistan to continue to make because Washington believes that through sustained bilateral talks the level of tension could be reduced which was needed for promoting peace.
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