As was obvious, the meetings between the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan and their Foreign Secretaries attracted more media attention than the discussions at the Colombo SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) summit. After all, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee and Mr Nawaz Sharif had found an opportunity for the first time after the Pokhran-II and Chagai nuclear blasts to exchange their views on issues plaguing the relations between the two major SAARC partners. But the "zero" outcome of the Indo-Pak engagement, as described by Mr Nawaz Sharif, made the Colombo deliberations lifeless. The Foreign Secretaries of the two countries failed to work out the much-awaited modalities for resuming official-level discussions, which have remained stalled since last September. The basic reason for this gloomy development was Pakistan’s obsession with the Kashmir issue and its intransigence on third party involvement in the matter, which India has been opposing tooth and nail as this approach clearly violates the spirit of the Shimla Agreement.

Though the Indo-Pak political problem remained in the "outer space" of SAARC — a subject outside the charter of the grouping — it did affect what was going on between the Heads of Government of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives. The finalisation of the mechanism for the South Asian Preferential Trade Arrangement (SAPTA) and the South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA) cannot carry much meaning if there is no end to the tense atmosphere involving the two key members of SAARC. Pakistan's unwillingness to concentrate on economic issues, keeping politics (which means Kashmir in this context) aside, may delay the ratification of the regulatory network of SAFTA by 2001, as announced by SAARC Chairperson Chandrika Kumaratunga of Sri Lanka. Islamabad's intention to give a political tinge to the Colombo talks was also evident in its aborted efforts to make the SAARC nations agree to include in their agenda the question of "stability, peace and security" in South Asia in the regional context in the light of the nuclear tests by India and Pakistan. It was wise on the part of the SAARC leaders to reject the unholy suggestion on the plea that it could be taken up only by keeping in view the entire global security environment. In fact, they endorsed the Indian stand that there could be no useful discussion on disarmament without the involvement of all nuclear weapon states. One fails to understand how Pakistan can afford to ignore the economic reality at home in the wake of the nuclear blasts which it did at every stage at Colombo. It should have taken the cue from the announcement of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee for lifting the quantitative restrictions on 2000 items for SAARC countries which meant that India was willing to give top priority to trade and commerce, not allowing the contentious political issues to influence the course of the SAARC negotiations. But Mr Sharif, perhaps, thought that this would not pay him politically when he would be back home. Hence his attempts at dragging the Kashmir question in whenever it was possible. This is a destructive approach which will cause more harm to Pakistan than to any other SAARC member.

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Courtesy: The Tribune: 31 August, 2019