Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has warned that delaying the dialogue over Kashmir would be fatal. She said this in an interview rather than a face-to-face meeting with her Indian counterpart where such comments must have made their impact more firmly.
Already considerable time has elapsed, with the issue remaining unsettled. In hindsight, our approach so far, which is mainly of dialogue for the sake of dialogue has not borne the result. Also there is absolutely no use if both the sides keep on holding debate after debate without touching on the core dispute over which wars have been fought and worse it is now a nuclear flashpoint. There is no denying Ms Khar’s assertion that no Pakistani ruler can overlook the issue but the reality is that the PPP cannot escape the charge of consigning it to limbo. Indeed, former Prime Minister Gilani went over to India and besides President Zardari too spoke on certain occasions about the dispute, yet these gestures could not be thought to have achieved anything meaningful, except that an impression was generated that it was kowtowing to New Delhi. End of the perpetual state of hostility between the two neighbours also necessitates that India first gives up its tyrannical and illegal hold over the Valley and then resolve it in line with the UNSC resolutions.