PRAGMATISM NEEDED TO TACKLE KASHMIR ISSUE
SUSHMA’S TALKS IN KABUL HAVE POSITIVE NOTE
By Harihar Swarup
Kashmir always remains the core issue whenever India-Pakistan dialogue is resumed or breaks down. This time also, in the breakthrough in Islamabad with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s visit and the decision to resume of a comprehensive bilateral dialogue, Kashmir remained the key issue. The Manmohan Singh Government had tried to kick-start stalled discussion through “the resumed dialogue” process, which met with the same fate of the composite dialogue following the killing of Indian soldiers almost three years ago. In the past, every time there was forward momentum in India-Pakistan ties, particularly on Kashmir, there were attempts by militants or the army to derail the process.
India and Pakistan were in striking range of an agreement on Kashmir in 2007 when Pervez Musharraf was swept from power