Modi should adopt progressive policy: Kasuri

LAHORE: Former foreign minister, and author of the highly anticipated book Neither a Hawk nor a Dove, Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri in an exclusive interview with The News stated that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi must adopt a progressive approach towards Indo-Pak relations in order to be a successful head of government and deliver on his promises of ‘vikas’ (development).
Kasuri was foreign minister of Pakistan for five years, from November 2002 to November 2007, during president Pervez Musharraf regime. Significant progress was made towards peace between India and Pakistan during his tenure, including a step closer to a deal on Kashmir through back channel dialogues. Kasuri is currently chairman of the Kashmir committee in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
Addressing the increase in tensions on the Line of Control and Working Boundary in the past few months, Kasuri noted that de-escalation was vital. He said this could be achieved if leaders on both sides were men of vision and showed the required political will.
He noted with regret that India and Pakistan with their combined population have failed to do anything for it, while China in the past three decades salvaged 600 million people from poverty.
Kasuri said his book was an effort to achieve normalcy in their relations as it is an important insider’s account sharing comprehensive details of his conversations while in office with Indian, European, and American interlocutors on the outstanding Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
Kasuri told The News that an entire framework of J&K along with the background was laid out in a chapter of his forthcoming book. It may be known to the Pakistani media as the Four Point Formula, devised under former president Pervez Musharraf in 2006 that included demilitarization and free movement of peoples across the LoC, he said. In fact 12 important features highlighted in his book were at the heart of the agreement reached in a period of three years with India under former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh.
“It was a win-win situation for both sides, Kasuri said, as Pakistan could say it brought a change in the status quo and the Indian government could tell its people that we have made no changes in the border, whereas Kashmiris could say that they haven’t allowed the territory to be divided. A hundred percent solution is no solution. Look at Germany. After the Second War World War it had to come to the dialogue table. Even if one party wins and the other side loses, there can be no peace as the other prepares for war in future. Peace can only come if it is achieved by both sides willingly. Cynics can undermine the agreement saying that Musharraf’s tenure was over and the Zardari government denied knowledge of it, but of course they knew, otherwise Asif Zardari would not state in his first address to the nation at Aiwan-e-Sadar that good news on the J&K front is forthcoming. He had been provided details after I instructed the Foreign Office to brief the new government on the agreement.”
To address a common perception in the Indian public that Pakistan’s military establishment is viscerally against normalization of relations, Kasuri told The News a chapter in his soon to be released book studied the Pakistan Army’s approach towards India. As I observed and have proved in the book, Khurshid Kasuri said the army is not against normalization and understands that national security is a broad concept transcending mere strengthening of defense forces and military strength. “Two important aspects of national security are economic and political stability, the Pakistan Army understands that well. They want all of the outstanding issues of both countries including J&K to be resolved on fair basis. It is obvious that we could not be successful in reaching the agreement with India in my tenure if the Pakistan Army and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) were not onboard. The Pakistan Army represented by a four-star General Ahsan Saleem Hayat, as President General Musharraf did not wish to wear two hats, and ISI represented by then head of the agency Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani were involved in reaching the agreement.” The way forward for India and Pakistan, after recent cancellation of joint National Security Advisors talks, said Khurshid Kasuri, was immediate appointment of backchannel negotiators who have confidence of both prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Narendra Modi. Kasuri also criticized the double hierarchy in the current Pakistan Foreign Office set-up with advisor to PM on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry acting in absence of a full-time foreign affairs minister. “This is no way to run foreign affairs.” The reason why Kasuri claimed progress was made in his tenure was reduction in bureaucratic backlog and direct contact between close aide of Musharraf, Tariq Aziz and his Indian counterpart intermediary, SK Lamba with complete trust of their leaders. The media of India and Pakistan, Kasuri advised, should not be made privy to back-channel negotiations as it would lead to posturing on both sides to cater to their constituencies at home. “I would appeal to the media on both the sides that their content has a direct impact on the public. I have noted in recent weeks that a section of the Indian media plays up negative stories and this makes it difficult for diplomats to do their work.”
Commenting on the Ufa-impasse, the former foreign affairs minister said both India and Pakistan were wrong and Pakistan should have realized public reaction. He noted the absence of Kashmir in the joint communiqué would strike a negative chord in Pakistan and lamented that India’s attitude afterwards was out of place. Sartaj Aziz, Kasuri said, was compelled to react due to the premature proclamation of victory by India at Ufa.
Kasuri decried the Indian government’s attitude which he believed boasted absence of Kashmir from the communiqué and singularly focused on terrorism celebrating their diplomatic victory at Ufa. To a question, Kasuri said the issue of Pakistani leaders meeting Kashmiri Hurriyat leaders was overplayed by India as Kashmiris are important stakeholders in the peace process.
“The unwritten code of our agreement with India in my tenure was that both sides knowing the possible public reactions would not proclaim victory and would disregard hardliners who would anyway oppose for the sake of it. I was surprised this time when the Indian leadership proclaimed victory at Ufa knowing full well that the Pakistani side would be compelled to respond.” Talking of the US in Indo-Pak relations, Kasuri recalled a time prior to when former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee extended a hand of friendship to Pakistan. “Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell rang me up one day and informed me that the Indian PM would soon be calling me,” Kasuri said adding he was sure Powell had made a similar contact with his Indian counterpart. “The US does not want relations between India and Pakistan to deteriorate as it would jeopardize their interests in the region.”
The former foreign minister said that in his conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the United Nations General Assembly Session in New York that Putin was surprised by Pakistan’s positions on Iraq and Iran, the only Muslim nuclear power to oppose the invasion. Russia’s policy towards Pakistan changed when they realized that Pakistan could take independent positions contrary to those taken by its ally, the US. It is noteworthy that Russia and Pakistan reached a recent landmark deal for the purchase of four MI-35M attack helicopters and a two billion dollar natural gas pipeline. The book, Neither a Hawk nor a Dove, will be launched nationwide on September 8.