Pakistan outwits India by attending Heart of Asia Conference

ISLAMABAD: Contrary to India’s sabotage of the Saarc summit that was scheduled to be held in Pakistan’s capital last month, Islamabad has responded positively and outwitted New Delhi by sending Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz to Amritsar to attend the ministerial conference of Heart of Asia process.

This was a difficult decision for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to take mainly in view of the venue of the moot, heightened tensions with India, constant Indian brutalities in the occupied Kashmir and its uninterrupted firing on the Line of Control but he still instructed the adviser to travel to Amritsar. It gave a clear message to the world particularly the powerful countries that Pakistan doesn’t play the spoiler’s role, stands for peace bilaterally, regionally and globally, wants to resolve disputes through dialogue and negotiations and wishes betterment in Afghanistan.

Since long, there has been total bilateral disconnect at all levels between the two South Asian neighbours primarily due to the Indian belligerence in the wake of its constantly putting blame on Pakistan for terrorist attacks and Islamabad’s vociferous projection of Indian atrocities in the held Kashmir at different forums. There are little or no chances of any bilateral contact between the two sides on the sidelines of the Amritsar moot due to the deep freeze in their relations.

Despite intensifying tensions, Pakistan has not shunned the dialogue process for peaceful resolution of all outstanding issues and offered talks to India that New Delhi has dismissed. The Indian prime minister is aggressively working to ‘isolate’ Pakistan but the recurring developments tell a totally opposite story.

The initiative of sending Sartaj Aziz to the Heart of Asia meeting comes on the heels of a productive telephonic talk between US President-elect Donald Trump and Nawaz Sharif. India, which was thrilled over Trump’s victory in the presidential election, was exasperated over this good telephonic conversation. Different lobbies, which are picking holes in this important contact, are displeased over its outcome. Just three days after it, Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi is leaving for the United States to meet key members of the Trump transition team and officials of the outgoing Obama administration.

The departure of Sartaj Aziz and Fatemi to different destinations and the Trump-Nawaz Sharif conversation are good developments for Pakistan, which, however, are disapproved by the detractors of the government as well as the enemies of Pakistan for obvious reasons.

In December last, the fifth Heart of Asia conference, held in Islamabad, had been attended by Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. At the time, she had also met Premier Nawaz Sharif whenthe Pak-India relations were not so worst as they have been for the past several months.

According to a statement issued by the Pakistan Foreign Office on her talks in Islamabad, both sides agreed to a Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue and directed the foreign secretaries to work out the modalities and schedule of the meetings under the Dialogue including Peace and Security, Confidence-Building Measures, Jammu and Kashmir, Siachen, Sir Creek, Wullar Barrage/Tulbul Navigation Project, Economic and Commercial Cooperation, Counterterrorism, Narcotics Control and Humanitarian issues, People to People exchanges and Religious Tourism.

But after that, the relations between the two tremendously deteriorated and nothing agreed then was unfortunately followed up. The statement had also said that the Indian minister and Adviser Sartaj Aziz condemned terrorism and resolved to cooperate to eliminate it. They noted the successful talks on terrorism and security related issues in Bangkok by the two National Security Advisers (NSAs) and decided that the NSAs will continue to address all issues connected to terrorism. The Indian side was assured of the steps being taken to expedite the early conclusion of the Mumbai trial.

The Heart of Asia process focuses on regional cooperation between Afghanistan and its neighbours to improve connectivity and tackle security threats. Pakistan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and the United Arab Emirates are part of the initiative launched in 2011 for encouraging economic and security cooperation between Afghanistan and its neighbours for dealing with the common problems of terrorism, extremism and poverty. It is supported by 17 others, predominantly Western countries, and 12 international organisations which are also sending senior representatives.