GOHAR Ayub Khan, Pakistan's foreign minister, is not unfamiliar with India. But he generally displays this familiarity by venting his spleen against the country. He has rarely hidden the fact that he intensely dislikes most things Indian.
But his visit last week to attend the NAM ministerial conference marked him out as a different man altogether. Gone was the stridency associated with him. He behaved like a foreign minister—articulate, measured—even while sticking to his guns on Indo-Pak ties. The primary focus was not to raise temperatures unnecessarily.
In fact, Gohar Ayub made a very positive gesture when he agreed to stay over for a bilateral breakfast meeting on April 9 with India's External Affairs Minister I.K. Gujral, despite doubts raised by the rather untimely political crisis in India. Though originally the talks were to be held over two days, they were cut short to one meeting before Ayub returned to Pakistan.
During the 90-minute meeting, the two foreign ministers agreed that the countries' foreign secretaries will meet in early May in Islamabad for the next round of the bilateral dialogue, resumed last month after a gap of over three years. The last round in New Delhi failed to produce any breakthrough on the mechanism for the talks between the two countries. The two ministers also agreed to release the several hundred fishermen who are being held for straying into each other's waters. Cases of civilian prisoners will also be considered favourably, Gohar Ayub told reporters in Karachi on his return. This was part of the effort to "urgently address" forgotten humanitarian issues.
In his informal conversation, Ayub repeatedly stressed that the two countries needed to adopt a "step by step approach" on bilateral issues, especially Kashmir. Aware of the complicated nature of Indo-Pak ties, he was realistic enough not to commit himself to any formula for sorting out things. He explained that by step-by-step approach, he meant cutting down on the forces in Kashmir and ending human rights violations.
While it is impossible for India to reduce its forces till Pakistan stops helping militants from the other side, Ayub's idea was not really anything new. But he did not say "let's talk about the plebiscite". The nuances this time were different. While emphasising that Kashmir was the key issue, he did not repeat Pakistan's usual stand of—"Kashmir or nothing".
Ayub left no doubt in anyone's mind that issues like Wullar barrage, Siachen, Sir Creek maritime boundary and trade were at best "peripheral". Some movement on Kashmir was absolutely necessary. He did not think that the Sino-Indian model of putting tricky issues on the backburner would help. "There is a very small population in Arunachal Pradesh. In Kashmir, there are more people involved," he said. Ayub was careful not to express any disappointment over the last round of talks and showed that Pakistan was willing to wait for something to work out. The LOC, he said, could not be turned into an international border. "If we wanted to, we could have done it in 1948," he said.
But how did he expect India to reduce its forces in the state so long as Pakistan kept aiding the militants? "This is an insult to your forces. Your army guards the LOC closely and has always maintained that nobody can pass through. Even the passes are manned," Ayub countered. He did not agree that Pakistan was sending active aid to militants. "This is a completely indigenous movement," he claimed.
He was evasive when asked if the Pakistan government could ignore the popular feeling in favour of improved relations with India or if the army would allow it sufficient flexibility in its dealings with India. "We have a young leadership, which wants to get ahead, to go somewhere. Nawaz Sharif also has the mandate. On Indo-Pak ties, Sharif can sell anything in his country that Benazir Bhutto could never have done," he said. But this can happen only if the dialogue can move beyond Kashmir. And right now there are doubts about that.
