Pakistan FM downplays reports of diplomatic breakthrough with India

Pakistani Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammed Asif. (AFP)

• Both countries’ national security advisors meet to diffuse tensions, revive code of conduct for treatment of diplomats.
• “Pakistan is deeply committed to the cause of Kashmir,” and seeks to “resolve this issue politically.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammed Asif on Thursday downplayed reports of a breakthrough in relations with India following correspondence between both countries’ national security advisors (NSAs) and this week’s meeting between Pakistan’s NSA Nasser Khan Janjua and Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria.
“Until now, nothing much” has been achieved, Asif told Arab News. “We just agreed to adopt measures to ease the diplomat issues as there were complaints from both sides. So we agreed on the 1992 code of conduct (for the treatment of diplomats), which should be observed so diplomats of both countries can operate in a more cordial manner.”
Last week, both sides agreed to address claims of harassment of each other’s diplomats. In March, Pakistan lodged 52 harassment complaints over two weeks, while India registered 17. 
“The NSAs are playing the role of informal diplomats to diffuse a tense situation,” Pakistani diplomat Javed Hafiz told Arab News. “They’re paving the way for a formal dialogue between the foreign ministries.” 
But “I don’t see Indo-Pakistani relations improving much in the near future as 2019 is an election year in India and Pakistan,” he added. “Bashing wins votes there.”
The meeting between Bisaria and Janjua in Islamabad on Tuesday came days after clashes between Kashmiri protestors and Indian security forces that left more than 20 dead and at least 300 injured, and elicited strong condemnation from Pakistan.
The two officials discussed ways to improve bilateral ties and calm the deteriorating situation in Indian-administered Kashmir, Janjua said.
“Pakistan is deeply committed to the cause of Kashmir,” and seeks to “resolve this issue politically and according to the aspirations of the Kashmiri people,” he added. “Dialogue is the only way forward to resolve our disputes.”
India and Pakistan have fought three wars over Kashmir, a territorial conflict that stems from partition in 1947.
Former Pakistani High Commissioner to India Salman Bashir told Arab News: “The meeting coincided with an intensification of Indian repression against the Kashmiri people. That’s not auspicious.”
Former Pakistani Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said by holding the meeting, Islamabad is sending a wrong signal that relations are normalizing. “We are meeting their (Kashmiris’) murderers as if everything is OK,” he added.
Asif dismissed that interpretation, saying Pakistan has done a lot for the Kashmiri cause. April 6 will be observed as Kashmir Solidarity Day in Pakistan and by its embassies, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Dr. Mohammed Faisal.