US SAYS’DISAPPOINTED’THAT INDIA-PAK NSA TALKS CALLED OFF

US SAYS’DISAPPOINTED’THAT INDIA-PAK NSA TALKS CALLED OFF

ഇന്ത്യാ – പാക്ക് എൻഎസ്എ ചർച്ച റദ്ദാക്കിയത്

The US has said it was "disappointed" that the proposed talks between the National Security Advisors of India and Pakistan has been called off.

"We are disappointed the talks will not happen this weekend and encourage India and Pakistan to resume formal dialogue soon," State Department spokesman John Kirby told PTI yesterday.The spokesperson, however, said the "constructive" interaction between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Ufa, Russia, was encouraging."We were encouraged by the constructive interaction between the leaders of India and Pakistan earlier this year at Ufa, particularly the announcement of dialogue between the countries' National Security Advisors," Kirby said.Pakistan last night called off the NSA-level talks proposed for today, after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj earlier yesterday virtually gave an ultimatum to Islamabad to give a commitment that it would not go ahead with meeting separatists.Swaraj was reacting to Pakistan NSA Sartaj Aziz's remarks that he was willing to come to India for talks without any pre-conditions.

India was also upset over Pakistan including Kashmir as part of the agenda for the NSA talks that was mainly scheduled to discuss terror.The first-ever NSA-level talks was agreed upon in July in Ufa during a meeting between the prime ministers of India and Pakistan. Meanwhile South Asia experts in the US blamed Pakistan for the cancellation of NSA-level talks between India and Pakistan."The Pakistanis torpedoed the talks by issuing an ill-fated invite to the Hurriyat leadership. But then again, the Indians must have seen that invitation coming, and they could have responded in a more measured way," said Michael Kugelman, South Asia Associate at the Woodrow Wilson International Center, a top American think-tank."As the larger country, there's something to be said for India acting more responsibly. It's a shame these talks were cancelled. They wouldn't have yielded anything remotely substantive, but at least they would have brought some breathing room," he said.Husain Haqqani, the former Pakistan Ambassador to the US who is now director of South and Central Asia at the Hudson Institute, said Pakistan's behaviour follows a well-worn pattern of trying to seek international attention for Kashmir."But India under Modi is breaking past patterns. There is definitely greater likelihood of escalation in an environment that is less predictable than the past cycles of terrorist attacks in India, firing on the LOC, Public recrimination, troop mobilisation and finally, standing down under international pressure. Modi does not want to play that game," Haqqani said."Posturing on Kashmir gets Pakistan nowhere but its leaders feel they need to do it any way. Pakistan has serious internal issues," he said."We need to face them instead of insisting on resolution of a dispute that hasn't been resolved for so long and can wait a bit longer. Pakistan should focus on building prosperity for its people," Haqqani said.

"A one-topic agenda was understandable from New Delhi's perspective but posed great difficulties for the government of Pakistan. The usual maneuvers followed with completely predictable results," said MichaelKrepon of the Stimson Center, another American think-tank.Meanwhile, the India-Pakistan standoff was widely covered by the US media."Pakistan cancels talks with India, citing restrictions," headlined The New York Times. "The decision came as the two countries traded barbs over Pakistan's plans to meet with Kashmiri separatist leaders while in India," it said."The disagreement weighed heavily on both sides as each positioned itself to blame the other for the failure to hold the talks. India had also stressed that it wanted terrorism to be the only item on the agenda while Pakistan wanted to discuss the dispute over the Kashmir region, which is claimed by both sides," the daily said.The Wall Street Journal said both sides accused each other of trying to scuttle talks."India said Pakistan was attempting to provoke New Delhi into pulling out, citing a sharp pickup in cross-border firing and two militant attacks in India which it said were connected to terrorist groups in Pakistan," the daily reported.According to The Los Angeles Times, Pakistan's powerful military has shown signs of sidelining Nawaz Sharif, leaving some in Narendra Modi's government skeptical of engaging in talks.ഇന്ത്യ-പാക്ക് ദേശീയ സുരക്ഷാ ഉപദേഷ്ടാക്കളുടെ (എൻഎസ്എ) ചർച്ച റദ്ദാക്കിയ നടപടി നിരാശാജനകമെന്ന് യുഎസ്. ഈ ആഴ്ചയുടെ അവസാനം നടത്താനിരുന്ന ഇന്ത്യ-പാക്ക് ചർച്ച റദ്ദായത് നിരാശാജനകമാണ്. ഇന്ത്യയും പാക്കിസ്ഥാനും തമ്മിലുള്ള ചർച്ചകൾ വേഗത്തിൽ പുനഃരാരംഭിക്കാൻ എല്ലാ പ്രോത്സാഹനവും യുഎസ് നൽകുമെന്നും യുഎസ് വക്താവ് ജോൺ കിർബെ പറഞ്ഞു.

ഇന്ത്യൻ പ്രധാനമന്ത്രി നരേന്ദ്ര മോദിയും പാക്ക് പ്രധാനമന്ത്രി നവാസ് ഷെരീഫും റഷ്യയിലെ ഉഫയിൽ വന്നപ്പോൾ പരസ്പരം കാണിച്ച കൂട്ടായ പ്രവർത്തനം പ്രോത്സാഹിപ്പിക്കേണ്ടതാണ്. ഇരു രാജ്യങ്ങളുടെയും ദേശീയ സുരക്ഷാ ഉപദേഷ്ടാക്കളുടെ യോഗം വിളിക്കാൻ തീരുമാനിച്ച കാര്യം യുഎസ് സ്വാഗതം ചെയ്തതാണ്. എന്നാൽ അതിൽ നിന്നുള്ള പിൻമാറ്റം നിരാശാജനകമാണെന്നും ജോൺ കിർബെ കൂട്ടിച്ചേർത്തു.

ഇന്നു നടക്കേണ്ടിയിരുന്ന ഇന്ത്യാ – പാക്ക് ദേശീയ സുരക്ഷാ ഉപദേഷ്ടാക്കൾ (എൻഎസ്എ) തമ്മിലുള്ള ചർച്ചയിൽ നിന്നു ഇന്നലെ അർധരാത്രിയാണ് പാക്കിസ്ഥാൻ പിന്മാറിയത് കശ്മീർ വിഘടനവാദികളായ ഹുറീയത് നേതാക്കളുമായി പാക്ക് സുരക്ഷാ ഉപദേഷ്ടാവ് ചർച്ച നടത്താൻ പാടില്ലെന്നും ഇന്ത്യാ – പാക്ക് ചർച്ചയിൽ കശ്മീർ വിഷയം ഉന്നയിക്കാനാകില്ലെന്നും വിദേശകാര്യമന്ത്രി സുഷമാ സ്വരാജ് വ്യക്തമാക്കിയ സാഹചര്യത്തിലാണ് പിന്മാറ്റം. ചർച്ചയ്ക്കായി ഇന്ത്യ ഉപാധികൾ വയ്ക്കുന്നത് അംഗീകരിക്കാനാകില്ലെന്നു പറഞ്ഞായിരുന്നു പാക്കിസ്‌ഥാന്റെ നടപടി.

Prof. John Kurakar