NEW DELHI – An Indian parliamentary panel on external affairs suggestedreviving the India-Pakistan dialogue process, despite bilateral relationsplummeting over issues ranging from terrorism to the way jailed formernaval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav is being treated, Hindustan Times hasreported.
The standing committee on external affairs headed by Congress leader ShashiTharoor recommended an “incremental approach” to resume the stalleddialogue, saying “geo-political realities” make such a process a necessity.
The suggestion follows the government’s stand that no dialogue is possiblewithout Islamabad stopping patronising anti-India terrorism.
The government told the committee earlier that “a meaningful and purposefuldialogue can be held in an environment free from terror, violence andhostility” and “the onus is on Pakistan to create such an environment”.
The committee agreed that Pakistan should abide by its 2004 commitment tonot allow its territory to be used for anti-India activities.
The panel’s recommendation is part of the action taken report on thepanel’s previous report on India-Pakistan relationship. The report wastabled in the Lok Sabha on Friday.
“Looking at the India-Pakistan relations in its entirety, the committeefeels geo-political realities require both the countries to revive thedialogue process,” said the committee, which comprises Congress PresidentRahul Gandhi among others.
The panel said encouraging people-to-people contact and bilateral trade areideal ways to prepare the ground for a dialogue between the two nations,which fought four wars and faced multiple crises in their fragile ties.
Bilateral dialogue suffered a blow after Pathankot air base attack onJanuary 2, 2016, killing six soldiers.
The attack happened days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made anunscheduled visit at former Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif’s home as agoodwill gesture. The two sides were then looking at ways to resume thedialogue despite a trust deficit since the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks.
The relationship got more vitiated when a Pakistan military court convictedJadhav of espionage after he was allegedly arrested in Balochistan in March2016. Pakistan accused him of working for the Research and Analysis Wing,but India denies the charges.