Track II Dialogues
Delhi Dialogue III
Date: March 16, 2014
Improving bilateral relations essential for a secure and stable South Asia
New Delhi, 14 March 2014: As South Asia and the wider region grapples with the menace of transnational conflict, a renewed vigor is required towards resuming the stalled bilateral dialogue between Pakistan and India participants agreed at the recently concluded Delhi Dialogue on Friday.
The dialogue brought together senior journalists, policy experts, academics, advocates, former military officials and diplomats from India and Pakistan for two days of intense deliberations to discuss a wide range of outstanding issues between both countries.
Entering its fourth year, the dialogue is part of an India-Pakistan Track II diplomacy initiative by the Jinnah Institute and the Center for Dialogue and Reconciliation, which seeks to promote peace between the two neighbouring countries through constructive engagement and dialogue.
Held in the backdrop of the upcoming Indian elections, participants agreed that the expected victory of a Narendra Modi led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could have a transformative effect on bilateral relations between both the countries.
Despite skepticism on the lack of clarity on Modi’s policy towards Pakistan, participants unanimously hoped that the new government in New Delhi will build upon earlier initiatives taken under previous governments and expeditiously pursue the revival of the stalled dialogue process with Pakistan.
The Pakistani delegation impressed upon its Indian counterparts that a cross-party consensus existed in Pakistan on improving relations with India and resolving all outstanding issues. They said that recent overtures of the Pakistan government presented an opportunity.
In a unanimously adopted joint resolution, participants agreed that Islamabad and New Delhi must move forward on a menu of outstanding items in order to move the region out from the shadows of instability, human insecurity and lost opportunities in trade, energy and information connectivity.
They urged both governments to fully implement all agreed CBMs in letter and spirit, cooperate on outstanding issues and address each other’s concerns on key issues like Kashmir and terrorism so that the stalled bilateral dialogue can be resumed. They expressed hope that any future bilateral dialogue will be irreversible and uninterruptable, unlike past initiatives.
The joint resolution called upon both governments to urgently take up discussions on Jammu and Kashmir so that a solution that is acceptable to India, Pakistan and the people of Kashmir on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) can be found. Discussions on improving cross-LoC trade and travel focused on extending the issuance of travel permits to all residents of Jammu and Kashmir.
The participants also analyzed last year’s ceasefire violations and called on both Indian and Pakistani military establishments to regularize high level staff and field commander meetings to resolve any future untoward incidents on the LoC.
Noting that people-to-people contacts were essential in improving relations between the two nuclear armed neighbours, the dialogue participants recommended the extension of the one year multiple entry visa policy towards all category of travelers, particularly media-persons, artists, students and academics.
Participants also recommend that Non-Discriminatory Market Access be granted by Pakistan to India at the earliest and urged India to remove all non-tariff barriers to facilitate trade between both countries.
They urged both governments to ensure that the Wagah-Attari border is opened for 24 hour operations and both governments should explore opportunities for opening all economically feasible land routes between India and Pakistan for trade and travel, particularly Ganda Singhwala-Ferozpur, Muktasar-Fazilka and Khokhrapar-Munabao.
With Afghanistan undergoing an important transition in 2014, participants recognized that competing interests of Pakistan and India in Afghanistan could affect bilateral relations between both the countries. They recommended that both countries should engage with each other to clarify apprehensions on their respective roles in a post-2014 Afghanistan. Participants also recommend that opportunities for mutual cooperation in the development and reconstruction of Afghanistan be explored, especially under the aegis of Saarc.
The Pakistan delegation comprised of former Ambassador Sherry Rehman, parliamentarian Shafqat Mahmood, former Ambassador Aziz Ahmad Khan, former DG ISPR Lt General Athar Abbas, Syed Babar Ali, Arshad Zuberi, senior journalists Zahid Hussain, Mariana Baabar, Amir Mateen and Ammara Durrani.
The India delegation comprised of former foreign secretary Salman Haider, former Ambassadors Jayant Prasad, Dr. Rajmohan Gandhi, Siddharth Vardarajan, Prem Shankar Jha, former Lt General Syed Ata Hasnain, Jyoti Malhotra, Suhasini Haidar, Gul Muhammad Wani, Sunil Sethi, and Syeda Hameed.
Coverage: The News, Daily Times, Pakistan Observer, The Nation, The Nation, Kashmir Observer
India-Pakistan Dialogue
13–14 March 2014
Taj Mahal Hotel, Mansingh Road, New Delhi
The Delhi Dialogue concluded in New Delhi with the adoption of a joint resolution calling on both countries to make concerted efforts towards improving bilateral relations. The dialogue brought together senior journalists, policy experts, academics, advocates, former military officials and diplomats from India and Pakistan for two days of intense deliberations to discuss a wide range of outstanding issues between both countries. Entering its third year, the dialogue is part of an India-Pakistan Track II diplomacy initiative by the Center for Dialogue and Reconciliation and the Jinnah Institute, which seeks to promote peace between the two countries through constructive engagement and dialogue.
Joint Resolution
Recognizing that the upcoming Indian election could be a transformative one, we hope the new government which emerges will build upon the positive initiatives taken under previous governments and expeditiously pursue the revival of the dialogue process with Pakistan. Islamabad and New Delhi must move forward on a menu of outstanding items in order to move the region out from the shadows of instability, human insecurity and lost opportunities in trade, energy, information connectivity.
We urge both countries to fully implement all agreed CBMs, cooperate on outstanding issues and address each other’s concerns on key issues like Kashmir as well as terrorism with the aim of resuming the stalled bilateral dialogue. It was agreed that the bilateral dialogue should be irreversible and uninterruptable.
We appreciate the implementation of the one year multiple entry visa for businessmen and recommend that people- to-people contacts between India and Pakistan be encouraged through the extension of the liberal visa policy towards all category of travelers, particularly media-persons, artists, students and academics.
We welcome the cessation of ceasefire violations along the LOC after the DGMO meeting last year and recommend that both governments and their respective security establishments hold regular meetings to address any future incidents.
We call upon both governments to urgently take up discussions on Jammu and Kashmir so that a solution that is acceptable to India, Pakistan and the people of Kashmir on both sides of the Line of Control can be found.
We recommend that the policy of issuing travel permits for cross-LOC travel be extended to all residents of Jammu and Kashmir.
We urge removing unnecessary hurdles in the issuance of cross-LOC travel permits by respective district officials.
We recommend that Non-Discriminatory Market Access be granted by Pakistan to India at the earliest and urge India to remove all non-tariff barriers to facilitate trade between both countries.
We call upon both governments to improve custom clearance processes and the establishment of one-window container loading and off-loading facilities at the Wagah-Attari border.
We recommend that the Wagah-Attari border should be opened for 24 hour operations and both governments should explore opportunities for opening all economically feasible land routes between India and Pakistan for trade and travel, particularly Ganda Singhwala-Ferozpur, Muktasar-Fazilka and Khokhrapar-Munabao.
We recommend that serious efforts be made towards exploring the possibility of Pakistan granting India overland transit rights for trade with Afghanistan and India granting overland transit rights to Pakistan for other South Asian countries.
We support an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned reconciliation process in Afghanistan and recognize that a peaceful Afghanistan is essential for regional stability.
We urge both countries to engage with each other to clarify each other’s apprehensions on a post-2014 Afghanistan.
We recommend that opportunities for mutual cooperation in the development and reconstruction of Afghanistan be explored, especially under the aegis of Saarc.
We urge both countries not to let competing interests in Afghanistan negatively impact bilateral relations.
We recommend that all regional countries with stakes in Afghanistan initiate a dialogue on adopting a non-interventionist policy towards the country.
DELEGATIONS
PAKISTAN
Amb. Sherry Rehman – Former Federal Minister, President Jinnah Institute
Mr. Zahid Hussain – Author and Senior Journalist
Mr. Shafqat Mahmood – Parliamentarian
Amb. Aziz Ahmad Khan – Former Ambassador, Honorary Vice President Jinnah Institute
Ms. Mariana Baabar – Senior Journalist
Mr. Arshad Aziz Zuberi – Chief Executive and Editor Daily Business Recorder
Ms. Ammara Durrani – Executive Director, Search for Common Ground
Gen. Athar Abbas – Former Director General, ISPR
Mr. Syed Babar Ali – Former Finance Minister of Pakistan, Prominent Industrialist
Mr. Amir Mateen – Journalist
Mr. Syed Hassan Akbar – Director Programmes, JI
INDIA
Dr. Rajmohan Gandhi – Author, historian, former member of Rajya Sabha
Amb. Salman Haidar – Former Foreign Secretary, India
Lt. Gen. (retd.) Syed Ata Hasnain – Former Military Secretary and GOC Kashmir
Mr. Gul Mohammed Wani – Professor, Srinagar
Mr. Prem Shankar Jha – Senior Political Analyst and Author
Mr. Siddharth Varadarajan – Journalist, Former Editor of The Hindu
Amb. Jayant Prasad – Former Ambassador to Afghanistan, Nepal
Mr. Sunil Sethi – Senior Advocate, J&K High Court
Ms. Jyoti Malhotra – Journalist
Ms. Suhasini Haidar – Foreign Editor, CNN-IBN
Dr. Maya Chadda – Professor of Political Science, William Paterson University and Research Fellow, Southern Asian Institute, Columbia University
Ms. Syeda Hameed – Author, and Member, Planning Commission of India
Ms. Sushobha Barve – Executive Director, CDR