Shadow of Pathankot still hangs over Delhi and Islamabad

While the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan held talks in Delhi on April 26, 2016, the event went largely unnoticed, except for the media in India and Pakistan.

To recall, late last year, there were some positive developments creating hopes that the two nuclear-armed neighbours of South Asia will move towards a new beginning in their bilateral relations. On December 9, 2015, Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj met Pakistan's Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz in Islamabad, and agreed to set up the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue (CBD). Then on December 25, 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stopped over at Lahore to greet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on his 66th birthday. Foreign secretaries of the two countries were then scheduled to start the CBD in mid-January 2016.

But on January 2, 2016, militants attacked Pathankot airbase in India. Six militants and seven Indian soldiers were killed in the five-day assault. That ended the short-lived Indo-Pak bonhomie, as the foreign secretary level meeting was put off.

On April 26, 2016, Pakistan Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry travelled to Delhi to attend the senior officials' meeting of the 14-nation titled 'Heart of Asia – Istanbul Process', which was hosted by India. A meeting between Chaudhry and Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar was held on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia conference. It was the first meeting between the two top diplomats after the Pathankot incident.

Two documents came out of the meeting – statements by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and by the Pakistan Foreign Ministry. A perusal of the two documents will tell that the two countries were poles apart on agenda priorities. For India, it appears to be Pakistan sponsored terrorism and for Pakistan, it is the unresolved issue of Kashmir – these two concerns continue to be responsible for tensions between the two countries.

Jaishankar raised the issue of terrorism originating from Pakistan, as he said that Pakistan cannot be in denial on the impact of terrorism on their bilateral relationships. Terrorist groups based in Pakistan must not be allowed to operate with impunity, he stressed while emphasising on the need for early and visible progress on the investigation of the Pathankot attack, as well as the 2008 Mumbai attacks case trial in Pakistan.

In March 2016, a five-member team from Pakistan had visited Pathankot to collect evidence on the Pathankot incident. India has accused Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), based in Pakistan, as responsible for the assault. Jaisahankar also brought up the listing of JeM leader Masood Azhar in the UN 1267 Sanctions Committee. Actually, earlier in April 2016, China, at Pakistan's behest, vetoed India's move to assign Masood Azhar as the mastermind behind the Pathankot attack. To India's great annoyance, Pakistan does not seem convinced that Masood Azhar is responsible for the Pathankot attack.

Regarding the Mumbai attack, India has been pushing for trial verdicts. Militants from Lashkar-e-Taiba based in Pakistan attacked Mumbai on November 26, 2008, in which 164 people were killed and more than 300 were wounded. Pakistan had arrested seven, who have been accused for abetment to murder, but Pakistan's anti-terrorism court has reserved its verdict on legal snags.

Chaudhry harped on Kashmir, saying that it remained the core issue which requires a just solution in accordance with UNSC resolutions and wishes of the Kashmiri people. He also expressed his concern that India was considering releasing the prime suspects of the Samjhauta Express bombing. He said that such acts undermined efforts to normalise relations between the two countries. Samjhauta Express is the train that runs between Delhi and Lahore. Hindu extremists bombed the train on February 18, 2007, near the station of Panipath in India, killing 68 passengers, of whom 42 were Pakistani civilians. 

Chaudhry also expressed serious concerns that a former Indian Navy Commander Kulbhushan Jadav was involved in subversive activities in Baluchistan. Pakistan arrested him for illegal entry into Baluchistan from Iran on March 3, 2016. Jaishankar pressed for immediate consular access to Jadav. When Aizaz described Jadav as a RAW agent, Jaishankar shot back, "Which spy agency would put their agent in the field with their own passport and without visa?" 

According to media reports, the two sides read out their respective agenda items. The 90-minute meeting was "frank and constructive", and despite all the smiles and protocol niceties, it is clear from media reports and certain words used in the Indian statement that the atmosphere at the meeting was indeed confrontational. While Jaishankar tended to be domineering and curt, Chaudhry appeared to be firm and blunt.

Surprisingly, after the meeting between the two diplomats, Indian Union Minister of State VK Singh described the meeting as an "unofficial courtesy call". Normally, if the meeting is official, a statement is issued, which was done by the MEA. Unofficial meetings seldom produce official statements. Clearly, the MEA was confused as to how to describe the meeting.

Originally scheduled as a bilateral meeting, the downgrade came when the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi neglected protocol and released a statement that Kashmir was "a core issue that requires a just solution". Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit added that the peace process was "suspended". Indian officials annoyed with Basit said that the peace process was not "suspended" but India wanted to see actions on terror by Pakistan before the CBDs could resume.

The MEA statement said that "the two Foreign Secretaries exchanged ideas on taking the relationship forward and agreed to remain in touch". No time frame, dates or modalities were spelt out on how they intended to remain in touch. It is clear that there was no forward movement. It was an uneasy, sterile meeting - each indirectly blaming the other of bad faith. Evidently, the shadow of Pathankot still hangs over Delhi and Islamabad.

The writer is former Ambassador and Secretary.