Not a Gordian knot

The Kashmir dispute is the most egregious legacy of the cataclysmic partition of India in 1947. Its resolution holds the key to peace and prosperity, not only for Pakistan and India but the whole of South Asia. Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri’s book, Neither a Hawk nor a Dove, is the first detailed account of efforts made during 2002-2007, when he served as Pakistan’s foreign minister in the government of General Pervez Musharraf, to resolve the Kashmir dispute. He presents the whole gamut of negotiations and discussions involving the two governments and their foreign offices, naming important players including those involved in backchannel contacts and interactions. The book covers a host of other themes and subjects, and includes the role of the Pakistan Army in relation to India, Pak-US and Pak-China relations, Pakistan’s relations with Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran, and the wider Muslim world. A chapter on the Pakistan Foreign Office adds further value to his work.

The author emphasises several times that the international community encourages both sides to resolve their differences on Kashmir bilaterally. However, he emphasises that no settlement would be possible without the Kashmiris being brought on board. Equally important to note is the following: he concedes that existing borders cannot be redrawn, but that they have to be rendered irrelevant. Briefly, the settlement requires that the LoC should continue to serve as the demarcation of boundary between Azad Kashmir and Indian-held Kashmir, and be reduced to being just ‘a line on the map’. Efforts will be directed at building trust over a period of 15 years. During this period, both will cooperate to limit and eliminate terrorism. Demilitarisation on both sides will gradually be effected, and trade and travelling facilitated. In the light of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, self-government will be facilitated on both sides.  Elected representatives nominated by both sides will monitor the LoC and the concomitant trade and movement of people. The foreign ministers of both sides will meet annually to review the situation. After 15 years, a Treaty of Peace and Friendship will be signed after all the outstanding issues have been addressed.

Those who could have contradicted him, namely, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, former deputy prime minister LK Advani, during the BJP government when the process started, and former president Musharraf actually attended his book launches in different cities, thereby certifying the correctness of his account. On the other hand, opposition to such a deal has been demonstrated deplorably by Shiv Sena goons, when the book was launched in Mumbai. In Pakistan, criticism has been expressed by those who have built their worldview on integrating the whole of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir with Pakistan. But most significantly, neither the Pakistan Army nor the Kashmiri leaders with whom Kasuri interacted during this time have denounced his standpoint.

Those who could have contradicted him have certified the correctness of his account

There is no denying that Kasuri’s own convictions and determination to find a win-win formula for Pakistan, India and the Kashmiris, have been pivotal to the processes that were set in motion when he assumed the office of foreign minister. Such determination derives in an important sense from the fact that he carried with him a heritage comprising references and values, which transcend the narrow worldview, which the partition imposed on the national narrative on both sides. His grandfather, Maulvi Abdul Qadir Kasuri, was a leading light of the Khilafat movement. Even more importantly, he was president of the Punjab Congress for ten years. An uncle of his was a minister in the government-in-exile set up in Kabul to fight British imperialism. His father, Mian Mahmud Ali Kasuri, was Pakistan’s most dedicated champion of civil liberties and democracy.  Thus, whilst remaining faithful to some self-righteous myths nurtured on the Pakistani side about the blame game on partition and its subsequent fallout on Pakistan-India relations, he manoeuvres himself free to work towards a settlement on Kashmir, which is fair and practical and thus can serve as the basis of lasting peace. Consequently, it is no more a question of whether it will be converted into a binding agreement between Pakistan and India, but when.

Admittedly, such a breakthrough could not have taken place if both sides had not realised that war was not an option. The mini-war at Kargil in 1999 put that truth in sharp relief. He pays glowing tributes to the statesmanship of Pervez Musharraf, Atal Behari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh. It is clear that he had a cordial relationship with all his counterparts, Yashwant Sinha, Natwar Singh and Pranab Mukherjee (current president), and backchannel negotiators such as Tariq Aziz, Brijesh Mishra and SK Lambah. He is particularly warm towards his Cambridge friend and India’s former petroleum minister Mani Shankar Aiyar. Simultaneously, he names hardliners entrenched in the higher echelons of the foreign services on both sides. He takes to task Indian military commanders for subverting the resolution of minor issues such as Sir Creek and the Siachen Glacier confrontation. Equally, he admits that Pakistan-based militant organisations have caused the greatest harm to the Kashmir cause. The discussion on the Pakistan military is quite benign and the stress is on it having been persuaded to underwrite the agreement on Kashmir he had negotiated on Pakistan’s behalf. His advice to the government of Narendra Modi is to remain steadfast to the peace deal to which BJP governments too have contributed positively, since neither country has any other option.  It remains to be seen as to when all the pieces in the jigsaw puzzle will fall in place to close the Kashmir question once and for all. Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri deserves to be congratulated as a man of lofty vision and an indefatigable champion of peace and goodwill.

Ishtiaq Ahmed is Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Stockholm University; Visiting Professor, LUMS, Pakistan (2013-2015); and Honorary Senior Fellow, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore