The only option is not to miss any given opportunity to engage in talks by both Pakistan and India. Many do not bother to give any attention on the forthcoming meeting between India’s National Security Advisor (NSA), Ajit Doval and his Pakistani counterpart, Sartaj Aziz on August 23 in New Delhi. There are solid reasons and grounds to harbour such line of thinking. In retrospection, from the Prime Ministerial level to the bureaucrat engagements and from the social jamborees to the cricket diplomacy, Pakistan and India are yet to strike a right chord—they are still unable to sort out a means to ensure a sustainable bilateral engagement. However, some commentators have expressed their hope on the August 23 date of the two ‘enemy brothers.’ This is because of the backgrounds of Sartaz Aziz and Ajit Doval. Both of them are known for their diplomatic skills.The Pakistani has a glittering track when comes to the contributions he has made to his country. Sartaz Aziz is known “for driving the Pakistan’s national economy on free-market economics principle and initiated the economic liberalization and privatization programmes. The man is also considered the statesman.
The record of the Indian is no mean either. Ajit Doval, a former Indian Police Service (IPS) is conversant when comes to the Indo-Pak conflict for he had worked nearly seven years in Indian High Commission in Islamabad, Pakistan in the turbulent 1990s. Ajit Doval had also spent several years to bring the Mizo National Front (MNF) to the negotiating table in the 1980s.
Meanwhile, when we talk of the Indo-Pak issue it is all about the situation created by the ‘core issue’ (to Pakistan) or just ‘Kashmir issue’ (to India). For nearly seven decades the issue has been simmering. The last Viceroy of British India Lord Mountbatten had foreseen the present situation seventy years ago.
“You’re going to have two rival countries at daggers drawn for your neighbours. You’ll be the cause of a tug-of-war between them. You will end up being in a battle field. That’s what’ll happen.” (Page 205— Freedom at Midnight by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre). The Viceroy was cautioning Maharaja Hari Singh when the latter strongly asserted Kashmir to be ‘independent’.
Hopefully, the Aziz-Doval date will give a fresh impetus in the effort to find a viable means to resolve the issue.
