THE party was definitely over. As both Islamabad and New Delhi got over their respective I-day celebrations, it was business as usual for the men in uniform. But once the firing across the LOC subsided and the international media hype ebbed away, foreign office babus were left wondering how to handle the casualty that had been left at their doorstep—the forthcoming foreign secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan.
As Islamabad read the situation, it was that time of the year again—when tension escalates on the border prior to bilateral talks. "We see a pattern in these attempts to provoke Pakistan. We saw this happening before the second round of talks and we are witnessing the same before the third round as well," the foreign office said. A particularly worried Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, Pakistan's High Commissioner in New Delhi who was camping in Islamabad, went into a huddle with the leadership, including Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen. Jehangir Karamat.
"The COAS would not lie to his own high commissioner. He very clearly stated in the meeting between the two that not a single Pakistan soldier had been killed in the unprovoked firing from India. Five civilians were killed and a few others injured," information minister Mushahid Hussain told 바카라, after lunching with Qazi. Foreign minister Gohar Ayub Khan told Parliament that the Indian claim that 70 Pakistani soldiers were killed was absurd. "With such a high toll, would we be sitting in this house or burying our dead?" he asked the Opposition when it raised the issue.
Qazi, meanwhile, tried to figure out whether the leadership wanted to go ahead with the talks. "The Indians are definitely trying to wriggle out of the talks because they will have to take up the issue of the working group on Kashmir, which is on the agenda. The signals emitting from New Delhi point to the fact that after a written agreement, the Indians are fast backtracking바카라 웹사이트 now," an official at the foreign office told 바카라 after meeting the high commissioner. Prime minister Nawaz Sharif told a news conference in Quetta that the "violations of the LOC by Indian troops are against the spirit of the dialogue."
One school of thought is that Isla-mabad should not get provoked till it gets to the negotiating table and that if the Indians pretend to forget their lines, to walk out of the talks. The focus has shifted to the UN session in New York, where Gujral and Sharif are scheduled to meet Clinton. Islamabad accelerated its support for the Kashmiris when Hussain organised a successful international conference on Kashmir in Muzzaffarabad. "India was unnerved over the international conference and responded with bullets. The conference was the strongest condemnation of India by independent analysts from the US, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka," said Hussain.
Experts feel that one of the factors that has perturbed Delhi is the scheduled Clinton-Sharif meet. "India is moving towards pressuring Pakistan into compromising on Kashmir on Indian terms, by showing the world it is ready to concede ground on other issues, from trade to Sir Creek," commented an editorial in Pulse.
Has Islamabad's attempt to internationalise Kashmir given Indian PM Gujral cold feet? That is how Islamabad interprets his demand that he would only meet Clinton if Indo-Pak talks were left out. For once, Pakistan can afford to play the waiting game.
