Still going nowhere
As expected, the Foreign Ministers' talks produced no concrete results in terms of any movement towards the conflict resolution. In fact the only agreement that seemed to have come out of these talks was the Pakistani Foreign Minister's immediate acceptance of an invitation to visit India! So more travel expenses for the Pakistani tax payer for a visit that will again probably bring no fruits for the country.
Actually from the Indian perspective the talks did yield some positive signs for India since the Pakistani Foreign Minister made it clear that the major common concern was not Kashmir but terrorism, which he saw as the "common enemy" which both countries must fight jointly. Then he went on to add that both sides sought to find a way to hasten the "trial process" - a reference to Mumbai. If terrorism was the central focus of the talks, as it seems, then why did the Pakistani side not raise the issue of trials for the Samjhota Express accused? Clearly, the Pakistani side came under pressure from India and succumbed to it.
As for Kashmir and India's repression in Occupied Kashmir, Foreign Minister Qureshi could barely bring himself to say the K word and merely lumped it with a set of "core issues" as opposed to reiterating it as the core issue. The Indian Minister was more clear on Kashmir, which he declared to being an integral part of India and emphasised that India would deal with the trouble there in accordance with the Indian Constitution. It was shameful to see the Pakistan's Foreign Minister did not find it opportune to counter this statement and reiterate that the State of Jammu and Kashmir is a disputed territory and recognised as such in the UNSC. More than anything else, Qureshi's telling silence on this represented the appeasing posture the government has adopted towards India. Even Amnesty International has confronted India more forcefully on its human rights violations in Occupied Kashmir.
Source : http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Opinions/Editorials/16-Jul-2010/Still-going-nowhere
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