NSA-level talks raise hope in Kashmir

Ishfaq Tantry

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, August 4

The forthcoming talks between India and Pakistan at the National Security Adviser (NSA) level has raised hopes in Kashmir. Though separatists expect these talks to pave the way for structured and more constructive engagement between the two nations in the future on all outstanding issues, including Kashmir, the mainstream parties sound cautiously optimistic given recent escalation of firing on the border.

With India proposing August 23 and 24 as the dates for the first NSA-level talks since Narendra Modi took over as the Prime Minister, the dialogue assume importance in the backdrop of the recent terror attack in Gurdaspur. As per the statement issued in Ufa on July 12 after Modi-Nawaz Sharif meeting, Pakistan’s NSA Sartaj Aziz was to visit New Delhi for a meeting with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval.

“I believe that NSA-level talks can pave the way for more constructive engagement and structured talks between the two nations,” said moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. He added that it was good to see the two sides talking.

“But the key point is to see that all parties involved in the Kashmir dispute are involved in the dialogue process. We hope and expect that Atal Bihari Vajpayee initiative is revisited and a multi-lateral approach for resolving issues is adopted by the neighbours,” Mirwaiz said.

“What I want to say is that the roadmap is already there and only needs to be revisited,” he said.

Mirwaiz sounded hopeful about the outcome of the forthcoming engagement in New Delhi later this month.

Most separatists acknowledged that dialogue between the two neighbours was the only way forward. “This is a good beginning, but we hope that Kashmir comes up for discussion during this meeting,” said Shabir Shah, head of the J&K Democratic Freedom Party.

He warned that talks on any level between the two nations could not move forward without Kashmir.

Mainstream parties, while welcoming the forthcoming talks, sounded a note of caution as far as the outcome of engagements was concerned. “We are hopeful, but at the same time we are cautiously optimistic about NSA-level talks given the escalation of tension on the border and history of past engagements,” said NC spokesman Junaid Azam Matoo.

He said there should not be any “chest thumping” about the outcome of the forthcoming meeting and it was better that there was no pressure as far as the end result was concerned. “We should not expect too much from this meeting,” he said.

The Congress, while welcoming the NSA-level talks, hoped that the meeting would be result-oriented. “We welcome the talks and hope for an outcome as dialogue is the only way to move forward. But at the same time, we expect sincerity from the other side,” said Ghulam Nabi Monga, vice-president of the state Congress.

A leader of the hardline Hurriyat faction headed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani said: “These talks are futile as there has never been an outcome of such talks.”