3 minutes that changed India-Pak. ties
Prime Minister Narendra Modi being greeted by his Pakistani
counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Lahore on Friday.
The Hindu brings you the story of what really happened in Paris where the two PMs met.
When Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif met
in Paris less than a month ago, few could imagine that the outcome
of talks — that lasted less than three minutes — would lead to the historic
developments that have followed.
So what exactly did the Prime Ministers speak about, as they sat
together on the sofa of a waiting lounge on the sidelines of the climate change
summit? The Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson referred to it as a
‘courtesy meeting’ at the time, but sources have confirmed to The Hindu that
each second of the conversation between Mr. Modi and Mr. Sharif was
spent on how to resume the dialogue process.
“PM Modi came up to PM Sharif with the words, ‘It is time to
start talking again’, after which PM Sharif suggested they sit down and talk,”
an official present at the meeting said. Mr. Sharif is understood to have
replied that he too wanted to restart dialogue, but that talks were blocked by
the failure of the National Security Advisors (NSAs) to meet in Delhi, and that
talks must be held on “all issues and without pre-conditions”.
Mr. Modi reportedly agreed to including all issues, including
Jammu and Kashmir in the list, which had been omitted in the Ufa statement, and
suggested sending the Foreign Secretaries to the meeting as well. “That was it,
and the rest is history” a senior Pakistani official said, corroborating the reported
version.
Success at Bangkok
At least one official told The Hindu that the subject of
sending Ms. Swaraj to Islamabad for the Heart of Asia conference was also
discussed, as Pakistan had sent an invitation to India . A few days later, the
officials tasked with the meeting got on the telephone to try and find both a
venue and date where they could meet. It was agreed immediately that they would
have to meet outside the country. According to one official, all four men —NSAs
Doval and Gen. Janjua as well as Foreign Secretaries Jaishankar and Aizaz Ahmed
Chaudhury — were travelling at the time, and Bangkok seemed to be the one city
at the centre of the grid. “Besides, we didn’t need visas to travel there,
which made a big difference,” another official added.
The talks in Bangkok, were by all
accounts “substantive”, with the first talks between NSAs with their security
backgrounds: one a newly retired Pakistani army general, the other, a former
spychief, who had served undercover in Pakistan.
After briefly referring to the much-touted dossiers on terror
that both sides had brought to the meeting, the NSAs dispensed with them and
began talks on how to go forward on the 26/11 trial and other issues.
When asked what the public reaction to the talks in India would
be when they were made public, Mr. Doval reportedly said, “We expected a strong
reaction when PM Modi met PM Sharif in Paris, but were surprised that except
for a few opposition leaders, they were welcomed by most.”
Officials also say that the secrecy around the reachout to
Pakistan was necessary. In fact, officials on both sides have confirmed that
India reached out to Pakistan four times earlier for a meeting between the
Prime Ministers in 2015, including the telephone call by Mr. Modi to Mr. Sharif
in January after a long period of no-talks, the visit by Mr. Jaishankar to
Pakistan under the SAARC agenda, the meeting in Ufa, for which the Indian side
initiated the request, a request for a meeting in New York, which Pakistan
rejected, and the brief meeting in Paris, which was choreographed by the Indian
side, which ultimately led to a month of breakthroughs in ties.
“Seen in this respect, the cancellation of NSA talks this year
were an aberration, not the rule in PM Modi's Pakistan policy,” a senior
official, who has been closely associated with framing the policy, explained to
The Hindu. “Had we announced the meetings before they happened, however,
they would have collapsed like the NSA talks did.”
Earlier this month, speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Sharif
confirmed that belief. “There is no secrecy,” he said at the opening of the
TAPI pipeline project in Turkmenistan, “If we didnt announce them, it was by
way of abundant precaution.”
