Haider makes pitch for ‘back channels’ with Pak
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, May 9
Former Foreign Secretary Salman Haider today made a strong pitch for keeping alive and opening the “back channels” with Pakistan as engagement with Pakistan remains a matter of “national interest” for India.
Addressing a gathering of scholars and intellectuals at CRRID (Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development) on the theme of “India and its Neighbours”, Haider regretted the current mood of distancing between India and Pakistan. He noted that despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts to signal friendly intentions towards Pakistan, Islamabad continued with its strategy of using proxies and terror. “Our patience has naturally worn out,” observed the veteran diplomat.
Yet, Haider’s theme song was that “India’s long-term interest was in peace and good relations with Pakistan”. And, he cautioned that neither the ‘stasis’ nor the sense of paralysis that now defined India-Pakistan relationship was helping either New Delhi or Islamabad. The way forward, according to him, was to explore the possibilities afforded by the mechanism of “back channels”. He noted that these channels had made substantive progress during the UPA years. “Seeds of a final settlement (over Kashmir) have been put together.”
On China, the former Foreign Secretary argued that on the issue of the Dalai Lama, “India can have a clear conscience” because India had never been “less than clear that Tibet was part of China”. His assessment, however, was that we must factor in a certain degree of tension in our relationship with China and this tension would have to be managed creatively because “no concession (by India or China) is tenable”.
Haider was all praise for Iran, Iranian diplomats and their collective capacity for “infinite subtlety”. It was this gift for subtlety that has enabled Iran to cope adroitly with Washington’s hostility.
Professor RP Bambah, who presided over the session, thanked Salman Haider for a masterly overview of the geopolitics of neighbourhood.
