OUT OF THE BOX & INTO PROVINCES ACROSS THE BORDER

Not resuming bilateral dialogue with Pakistan may make sense for now, but not forever. It could be time to foster reciprocal approaches with our neighbour's provinces

- K P NAYAR

XTERNAL Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's upcoming visit to Islamabad recalled to memory a statement by a former defence secretary who said only Punjabis negotiating on behalf of both India and Pakistan could find permanent solutions to disputes between the two countries.

The occasion, about 30 years ago, was a book release by a foreign secretary who had retired around the same time as this Punjabi defence secretary. Responding to this argument, the former foreign secretary, a Malayali, quoted Urdu poet Ghalib from the book being released: "Nuktacheen hai gham-e-dil usko sunaey na baney / Kya baney baat jahan baat banaye na baney." (The cogitations of my heart are so complex and convoluted; how can I explain them to my protagonist? How can I create a harmonious relationship when the impulses and motivations for it are not there?)

P V Narasimha Rao, then the prime minister, appeared to give the defence secretary's rationale an honest try. He picked R L Bhatia, minister of state for external affairs and an Amritsari, to break the ice with Pakistan and sent him on a visit to Islamabad. It came after a long hiatus in bilateral talks following the demolition of Babri Masjid. In the end, Bhatia's Islamabad visit amounted to nothing.

Bhatia told the Rajya Sabha subsequently that Pakistan was given another chance to engage India. That was when the foreign secretary went to Islamabad to take part in a meeting of the Commonwealth's senior officials in November 1994. "We had conveyed in advance to Pakistan through diplomatic channels that the foreign secretary would be available for any discussions, formally or informally, on bilateral issues. Pakistan, however, did not avail itself of the opportunity to resume the bilateral dialogue," Bhatia said.