Pathankot progress

While progress on the India-Pakistan front remains admittedly slow, recent developments are pushing the two countries towards a more collaborative approach in tackling regional challenges, including terrorism. After a meeting between Adviser on Foreign Policy Sartaj Aziz and Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj on the sidelines of the 37th Saarc Council of Ministers Meeting on Thursday, a number of key agreements were reached. The most significant of these is the agreement to send a Joint Investigation Team on the Pathankot attack to start work from March 28. Coming a week after Pakistan issued India advance warning of alleged terrorist infiltration into the latter country, which led to Indian troops managing to neutralise three alleged terrorists, there seem to be good reasons for optimism on collaboration on security-related issues. Both countries have acknowledged the joint threat terrorism poses to them and to regional stability. And if the JIT does take shape, it will mark the opening of a new chapter in ties between the two countries. An invitation has been extended to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the Saarc Summit in Islamabad later this year while some preparatory work has been done with respect to the expected meeting between Modi and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Washington later this month.

Days before the meeting, the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi invited a Hurriyat leader for a meeting. This time, however, the meeting did not result in a postponement of talks between the two countries. The omens may be good but there is a lot that can still change. One of the most significant of these is the so-called ‘protective custody’ in which Jaish-e-Muhammad chief Masood Azhar is being kept. With no formal charges against Azhar, his detention could be over anytime, and we may be confronted with a situation like the one after courts in Pakistan released Laskhar-e-Taiba chief Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi. The result of that, we may recall, was two years of diplomatic silence between Pakistan and India. Pakistan had complained in the case of Lakhvi that it was not provided enough evidence. This time, in the case of the Pathankot attack, India has allowed a team from Pakistan to join the investigation efforts. Our five-member team carries with it not only the burden of finding out who perpetrated the attack, but the burden of ensuring that ties between the two countries remain hospitable. The JIT for the Pathankot attack could easily become a matter of diplomatic controversy between India and Pakistan. That should not be allowed to happen. What both sides must continue to understand is that terrorism can only be combated together.