Azam Khalil Heres to the men who lose What though their work be eer so nobly planned And watched with zealous care; No glorious halo crowns, their efforts grand Contempt is failures share - G.L Scarborough The recently concluded round of talks between Pakistan and India can be defined with one word: failed. The question is: why no concrete progress is reported whenever representatives of the two countries sit across the table? The answer: because it is in the interest of the Indians that status quo remains as far as the issue of Kashmir is concerned. Despite the human rights violations committed by the brutal Indian army in Kashmir, and its administrations reluctance to recognise the Kashmiris right to self-determination, no sanctions were imposed by the international community on India forcing it to change its strategy. Even the UN has failed to enforce its resolutions about Kashmir and therefore bring about an appropriate solution. In fact, India is, perhaps, the only country in the world that has manipulated the cold war situation to its benefit. For years, it has been pampered by the US and Russia, to accomplish their nefarious designs, and so it (India) has started behaving like a spoiled child. The ensuing situation allowed the Indians to tighten their grip over the helpless Kashmiri people, who have managed to continue their struggle bravely like the Palestinians against the Israeli occupation forces. Indeed, this does not mean that Pakistan has not contributed to the mess. Successive governments in Pakistan have failed to frame a foreign policy that could have made a productive and positive impact, resulting in a suitable solution for the contentious issue between the two neighbouring states. In addition, Pakistani policymakers lack the vision that is essential to break the current isolation faced by this country, due to a number of reasons. It is high time that both Pakistan and India realised that negotiations were the best bet and any further delaying tactics to resolve the outstanding issues, including Kashmir, could lead to damning consequences in future. War is not a solution. It is a fact that in case of a war between Pakistan and India, which will be an act of madness, the first five to 10 minutes will result in casualties of about 250 to 300 million. This will certainly devastate the existing facilities of both the countries leading to a catastrophic situation. Hence, sanity must prevail and the political leaders on both sides of the divide must show the resolve and political will that can take the two countries forward on the road to success. Unfortunately, the voices coming out from India suggest that even mainstream parties like Congress and BJP are not satisfied with the performance of their Foreign Minister. Perhaps, they wanted Mr Krishna to walk out of the talks. BJP has gone to the extent where they have demanded that the invitation extended to Pakistans Foreign Minister to visit India in December should be withdrawn. It, therefore, confirms the belief that the Indians are never serious to resolve its problems with Pakistan through a process of dialogue. It is pertinent to mention that before Mr Krishna came to Pakistan, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh opposed Pakistans civilian nuclear deal with China. Although the two nuclear reactors given by China to Pakistan would produce 600 megawatts of electricity, the Indian administration wanted it to be cancelled. Besides this, both Pakistan and China have offered that the energy plants will be open for supervision by the UN nuclear watchdog Then again, India has been vociferously campaigning to stop the US from providing the much needed military equipment to Pakistan, who is engaged in a relentless fight against terrorism. Indias seriousness to engage Pakistan in a meaningful dialogue can be also judged from the statement that was issued by the Indian Home Minister just two days before their Foreign Ministers meeting on July 15th. All this sums up to one conclusion which is that India went on a rampage and successfully subverted the talks. That had raised the expectations on both sides of the divide that something positive was about to happen as far as Indo-Pak relations are concerned. The Indian Minister, who had announced that he had come with a message of peace and friendship, was well aware that he was only carrying a mandate to drag his feet on all issues that would be raised before him and nothing more We must also review the performance of our own Foreign Minister. While more vigorous and forceful presentation of Pakistans brief was desirable, yet the necessity of Mr Qureshi holding a press conference to explain the conduct of the Pakistani delegation tells us the story of our side. Pakistan needs a Foreign Office that can properly represent the will of the people of this country. At present, we only have a 'foreigners office. The democratic government must place before the people of this country the entire process of talks and no part of the negotiations should be kept a secret. The government must exercise its political will and formulate a long-term policy keeping in view the best interests of Pakistan. On the other hand, the Indians must also remember that they may gain in the short-term by delaying to resolve issues with Pakistan. But in the long run such tactics will hurt India more than they hurt this country. The writer is a freelance columnist. Email: zarnatta@hotmail.com