To The Point special: India-Pakistan relations - standing still or sliding backwards?
Speaking to Karan Thapar on a special episode of To The Point, former Pakistan envoy, Ashraf Jehengir Qazi, said that India-Pakistan relationship was at the crossroads.
Pakistan's envoy to the UN, Maleeha Lodhi, today said that her country seeks to normalise relations with India and wants to discuss every issue, but New Delhi is only interested in talking about terrorism.
Earlier this week, Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar met his Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry in New Delhi. The 90-minute meeting was the first senior-level conversation between the neighbouring countries after January's deadly terror attack at the Pathankot air force base by a group of terrorists from across the border.
During the meeting on April 26, New Delhi emphasised that it expects Islamabad to act against Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar, who India believes masterminded the January 2 Pathankot attack.
Following the meeting, both sides issued intriguingly different statements. India's statement stressed on Pathankot and terror and there was no mention of Kashmir. Pakistan's statement talked about Kashmir and the comprehensive bilateral dialogue but made no mention of Pathankot and terror.
What is the state of relationship between India and Pakistan?
Big Questions
- Where does India-Pakistan relation stand today?
- Pakistan deliberately ignored Pathankot issue?
- Why is Pakistan pushing the K-agenda again?
- Tit for tat diplomacy at play?
- Relations inching forward?
- Relations standing still or sliding backwards?
- Nawaz and Modi under Western pressure to talk?
- Constructive dialogue to sweeten ties?
- Will Pakistan take action against Masood Azhar?
- Will Pakistan conduct fair probe into Pathankot?
- Will NIA be allowed to visit Pakistan?
Speaking to Karan Thapar on a special episode of To The Point, former Pakistan envoy, Ashraf Jehengir Qazi, said that India-Pakistan relationship was at the crossroads. He pointed out that the two nations should continue the dialogue process despite attempts to derail it.
"It's extremely important for us to be able to continue the dialogue. India-Pakistan relations are inching forward, sliding backward and standing still - all at the same time," Qazi said.
Former Indian envoy Shivshankar Menon also pointed out that there is potential that things between the two neighbouring nations move forward.
"But it's too early to describe Pakistan's response on some of the issues, including Pathankot, that India has raised. There are some positive signs like the JIT's visit to India and reported arrest of Masood Azhar. There is enough scope for both sides to move forward of the will exists," Menon said.
"India-Pakistan relation has been accident prone but that doesn't mean we stop making efforts," Menon added.
Former Pakistan High Commissioner to India, Salman Bashir, stressed on the need of more communication between the two countries.
"We are at a loss to understand if there is a Pakistan policy for India at this point," Bashir said.
Commenting on the row surrounding the arrest of a former Navy official, Kuldeep Singh Jadhav, who Pakistan claims was caught in Balochistan for "subversive activities", ex-Indian envoy to Pakistan, G Parthasarathy, said, "The fact is he (Jadhav) is not a member of Lashkar-e-Taiba massacring people in Mumbai. He is certainly not Jaish-e-Mohammad member coming to Pathankot airbase to kill people."
Aziz Ahmad Khan, who was Pakistan's High Commissioner to India from June 2003 to September 2006, countered Parthasarathy, saying there was no doubt that Jadhav was a R&AW agent.
Watch the special To The Point debate here: