India and Pakistan can be expected to seek to put their bilateral relationship on an irreversible trajectory of growth when their foreign ministers meet in Islamabad on July 15.
External affairs minister S.M. Krishna’s visit there will be the first by an Indian foreign minister after the Mumbai terrorist attacks in November 2008. In his talks with his Pakistan counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Mr Krishna would explore the modalities of restoring trust and confidence in the relationship before a substantive dialogue can resume. There is near unanimity in India that the composite dialogue process, by which name it was called before it was suspended in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks, could not be resumed in its old format. Pakistan demurs, just as it has thwarted attempts by India to build on the progress made in the back-channel talks between 2004 and 2008. Both sides have spoken about the issues they would raise in the talks, with Mr Krishna saying he would raise the issue of terrorism emanating from Pakistan and Mr Qureshi insisting that he would raise the Kashmir issue.
The external affairs ministry said in a statement here Monday that Mr Krishna’s talks with Mr Qureshi would be in pursuance of the mandate given by the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan during their meeting in Thimphu, Bhutan, in April, to them and their foreign secretaries to work out the “modalities of restoring trust and confidence in the relationship, thus paving the way for a substantive dialogue on issues of mutual concern.”
Ahead of his July 14 to 16 visit, Mr Krishna on Monday called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and discussed the contours of his proposed talks in Pakistan with Ms Sushma Swaraj and Mr Arun Jaitley, the leaders of the BJP in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, respectively. The Cabinet committee on security is likely to meet here on Tuesday to preview Mr Krishna’s visit. Over the last few days, Mr Krishna has called on Congress party president Sonia Gandhi and held discussions with think-tanks. Pakistan’s high commissioner to New Delhi, Shahid Malik had paid a courtesy call on Mr Krishna and foreign secretary Nirupama Rao here. Mr Malik, who crossed the Wagah border into Lahore on Monday, said he was “expecting a lot” from the talks.
According to a Pakistani media report, Mr Qureshi briefed Pakistan’s parliamentary committee on national security about the talks with India. The report quoted Pakistan foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit as saying that the Pakistan government was hoping that the talks would help move the peace process forward. “I think there is realisation on both sides that Pakistan and India need to move forward and by not talking to each other neither country would gain,” the report said quoting Mr Basit.