July 15 peace talks: Another India-Pak impasse

The much-awaited July 15 India-Pak peace talks ended in acrimony. The talks aimed at decreasing the trust deficit between the old South Asian rivals turned out to be a blame game in which Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mohammed Qureshi was the solo player. Once again, Pakistan busted India"s trust in the July 15 talks.

The foreign ministers" talks were aimed at decreasing the trust deficit between the two nations. However, the trust deficit amplified in a hefty manner after the talks.

It was India, which initiated the peace talks after it had been stalled since the Mumbai terror attacks in Nov 2008. In spite of this fact Pakistan blamed India gratuitously for the failure of July 15 talks.

This time the Pakistan External Affairs Minister Shah Muhammad Qureshi had breached all kind of diplomatic etiquette. During the joint press conference, he made one of the nastiest comments ever heard in a bilateral talk. He equated Indian home secretary G K Pillai with Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Hafiz Saeed that too in the presence of Indian External Affairs Minister.

Pakistan once again proved that their concern is regarding terrorists and not to make harmony with India. Shah Mehmood Qureshi openly castigated G K Pillai for his remarks that the ISI (Inter Services Intelligence), Pakistan"s spy organization, had coordinated Mumbai terror attacks. G K Pillai just announced a simple fact based on Lashkar terrorist Headley"s revelations that ISI was behind the Mumbai terror attack on the eve of July 15 talks. Headley is under FBI custody, he also made some stunning revelations on the complicity of ISI in Mumbai terror attack:

ISI and Pakistan Army are engaged in training Mumbai terror attackers along with Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists.

Two of the five training camps of the Mumbai attackers were positioned at Mangla reservoir near Tarbala dam. Entry to these dams is under the direct control of Pakistan Army and Navy.

Pakistani marine commandos trained the 10 Mumbai attackers.

No less than three Pak army officers – Major Haroon Shah, Major Iqbal, and Major Sameer Ali – were directly clued-up with the attackers.

Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha, Director General of the ISI, paid Rs 25 lakh to buy the boat (Al Husseini) for the 10 terrorists.

How can India be silent on these facts revealed by David Headley? Irritated by these disclosures, Pakistan Army Chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and the ISI boss Shuja Ahmed Pasha sabotaged the peace talks. Qureshi became a tool of ISI and Pak Army.

Pakistan again proved that they are a nation of terrorists and a nation for the terrorists. They sturdily refused to take on in any significant manner with the critical areas of Mumbai attacks, cross-border terrorism and infiltration.

In addition, they once again accused the baseless allegation of India"s involvement in Baluchistan riots.

Regarding anti-India jihad speeches of Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed, Qureshi defended Pakistan by equating Indian home secretary G K Pillai's comments on Lashkar man David Headley's implication of ISI in Mumbai terror attack with Hafez Saeed.

As India had given enough evidence on the involvement of Hafez Saeed in Mumbai attack, Pak did not guarantee any action on him.

They want to protect Saeed, as terror becomes an official policy of Pak government. For those, who consider this statement as immature; let us remember Shah Mohammed Qureshi"s response on Hafiz Saeed after his meeting with P Chidambaram, Indian Home Minister in Islamabad (On the sidelines of SAARC home ministers" meet). When P Chidambaram demanded action on the anti-India speeches of Saeed, Qureshi said Pakistan would not bar him from making anti-India speeches.

Irrationally, Pakistan yet again raised the Kashmir issue in the talks. As far as India concerned Kashmir as her integral part, any talks on this issue is immaterial. Pakistan has to realize this fact. Even after the talks, Pak foreign minister Qureshi continued his verbal war on India. He set conditions to visit India.

Qureshi said, “I will agree to a visit to India only if I assured that the neighboring country (India) has the intention to hold a meaningful and result-oriented dialogue, otherwise I am not really fond of taking a leisure trip. Let Qureshi look within. While his country considers terrorism as an official policy, how the talks can be fruitful Mr Qureshi?

Unquestionably, one can say that Pakistan was to blame for the July 15 (2010) India-Pak impasse in Islamabad.

Dipin Damodharan is a Journalist (Sub Editor with Jeevan TV ) based in Kerala.He can be contacted at [email protected]

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