They Sat Together, They Talked and
then They Departed
ON JULY 14, 2001, the then Pakistan President General Parvez Musharraf came to New Delhi from Islamabad. He had five long sessions with the then Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The main objective of these meetings was to explore the possibilities of a resolution to the Kashmir issue. However, the talks failed, and two days later, on the night of July 16, 2001, Musharraf returned to Islamabad.
What was the reason for the failure of these high level talks? The basic reason according to the information we have was that the Indian Prime Minister wanted to maintain the political and geographical status quo that existed at that time in Jammu and Kashmir, and to have normal relations restored in all other matters between the two countries, in order that the journey towards progress, having halted for so long, might be set in motion once again. But probably President Pervez Musharraf insisted that Kashmir issue be addressed in favour of Pakistan, —to the effect that the whole of Kashmir belonged to Pakistan—and only then would he be willing to establish normal relations with India. The Indian Prime Minister did not accept this suggestion and then, naturally, the talks broke down. When Parvez Musharraf arrived in India he made such statements as suggested that he was willing to enter into an agreement through negotiation with India on Kashmir. For instance, in his speech at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi he said that a military solution to the Kashmir problem was not possible. Similarly, at the Agra press conference, he spoke about the acceptance of reality. He also said that he had come to India with an open mind. But later he left for Paksitan without any agreement.
My assessment is that he perhaps feared strong opposition on his return from the Pakistani people, who for decades had been fed on a steady diet of anti-India hatred. In the words of a commentator, General Parvez Musharraf knew that the emotional people of Pakistan, who were unable to tolerate defeat at the hands of India even in the field of cricket, would not be able to countenance political defeat in the matter of Kashmir. But he should also have known that as long as Pakistan failed to enter into an agreement with India, Pakistan’s downward economic trend would be inevitable.
In my opinion, if Musharraf had agreed to accept the Indian stand on Kashmir, it would have meant choosing a lesser evil. It would simply have meant accepting the loss of something that Pakistan had already lost. The cash benefit for Pakistan of this acceptance would amount to opening all the locked doors of progress and development. If the Pakistani government continues to refuse to accept the Indian position on Kashmir and carries on with its undeclared war against India, it will continue to be deprived of Kashmir, and will drastically add to its own economic ruin, which is already approaching a point of no return.
