Diplomacy is to do and say the nastiest thing in the nicest way. Isaac Goldberg For once the SAARC countries were able to achieve something concrete, as there was a broad-based consensus on the issue of terrorism. The upbeat voice was heard during the SAARC interior ministerial meeting which concluded that it was imperative for all the regional countries to cooperate with one another, if they were to achieve better results against the menace of terrorism. In the past both India and Pakistan had been finger-pointing at each other whenever there was an act of terror in their respective countries. Although the Indians during the meeting denied that they had anything to do with the acts of subversion and sabotage taking place in Balochistan, Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram pledged to pursue a common strategy that will allow them to effectively tackle the issue of terrorism. While this diplomatic exercise could send a positive message on both sides of the border, in reality it is a fact that the Indians were - and perhaps still are - engaged in activities that were detrimental to the security concerns of Pakistan. On several occasions, the Pakistani government had provided the US and the international community with evidence which clearly indicated the Indians were interfering in Balochistan. It also proved that the Indians were engaged in training and providing financial help to the insurgents, who were waging a bloody war in the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan. In addition, the Pakistani government has informed the US authorities about the activities of the Indians but there has been no noticeable change for the better on the part of the Indian government. Therefore, the Indian Home Ministers pledge to work closely with his Pakistani counterpart so that both the countries can combat terrorism in a more organised manner, can certainly be termed as 'a major progress on the road to peace. This is so because in the past both the countries had denied any involvement in the affairs of the other. Another landmark agreement that was achieved during the ministerial conference was the resolve that the civilian agencies like the CBI of India and FIA of Pakistan will work in close cooperation to find out more about the terrorist networks that exist in India and Pakistan. The Indians have all along accused this country of encouraging Islamic extremist groups for conducting their negative activities inside the Indian territory; a charge that has always been denied by the Government of Pakistan. In the same vein, the Indians have been denying the involvement of RAW in the terror attacks inside Pakistan. It is now expected that both the countries may use their influence and make sure that their soil is not used either by the terrorists or by the foreign elements, who are presently being trained in Afghanistan by Indian security agencies. The Pakistani and Indian authorities have also assured to one another that in case of an incident that may be engineered by non-state actors, they will try to resolve the issue instead of escalating the whole episode. All the countries that are members of the SAARC, have been hoping since the formation of this group, that things will return to normal between India and Pakistan because only then the atmosphere will become conducive to increased economic activity. That could benefit the people generally living in the South Asian region. According to an estimate, there was a legitimate potential of nearly about $100 billion of economic activity between the countries of SAARC in case other issues were resolved in an amicable way between India and Pakistan. To achieve such an economic activity it is of paramount importance that the Indian government abides by the UN Resolution on the contentious issue of Jammu and Kashmir. Indeed, it is critical for peace and harmony that the Indians do not create mischief on the Indus water sharing issue and also abide by the international conventions that are followed throughout the world as and when water sharing is concerned between different countries. One hopes that when the Indian Foreign Minister comes to this country there will be progress in other fields as well and India will not be shy to strike just deals with this country. At the end of the day, to achieve real progress the Indian leadership should discourage the anti-Pakistani propaganda that is presently the hallmark of their country. Besides this, they could begin with easing travel restriction that has been imposed by them on Pakistanis, who want to visit India either for business or to meet their relatives. Likewise, the Government of Pakistan should also facilitate those Indians, who want to visit this country for various purposes. In case this happens the Indians may show more goodwill by reducing the number of troops that are presently in Held Kashmir, who have only one point agenda and that was to suppress the voice of freedom that is being raised by the Kashmiri people. The sooner both the countries sit around the table to resolve this issue, the easier it would become for India and Pakistan to resolve the other outstanding issues that exist between them. While the SAARC countries do not have the clout that can be exercised over the Indians by the US administration, yet it would be conducive if they increased trade amongst themselves without waiting for Pakistan and India relations to show some dramatic improvement in the near future. On several occasions, the SAARC countries moved in the proper direction but mostly their efforts were not able to bring the desired productive results because things bogged down when it come to Pakistan and India. One can only hope that progress can be quicker and which is definitely possible if the Indians show more sincerity in trying to resolve all the outstanding issues that have marred relations between the two nuclear power countries. The writer is a freelance columnist. Email: zarnatta@hotmail.com