ISLAMABAD, 9 June — Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov will be visiting Pakistan later this month to hold extensive dialogue with Pakistani leaders on the hostile regional security situation arising out of continuing massive deployment on the borders by India.
The final dates of the Cabinet-level Russian visit, first in many years, will be announced this week, though formal exchanges of Ivanov’s visit to Pakistan had taken place in Almaty between the senior officials of the two countries.
The Russian foreign minister’s visit to Islamabad is taking place following Bush-Putin contacts and discussions that took place in the recent past. “We understand both the United States and Russia have decided to play a proactive diplomatic role in defusing tension in South Asia and finding out an acceptable solution to the problem of Kashmir,” a senior official told Arab News on Friday.
This highly proactive diplomacy, which has already been launched with US Deputy Secretary Richard Armitage visiting the region, from the US and Russia will set the ball rolling for brining Pakistan and India on the negotiating table at some senior official level.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who held talks with President Pervez Musharraf in Almaty recently, gave him a sense of what he and US President George W. Bush had agreed to play a role in ironing out issues in South Asia. Precisely, it was the key reason that the CICA leaders were hopeful that Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee would hold talks with Musharraf in Almaty.
“We are still not disappointed,” said a diplomat privy to this development. “The two countries along with China would launch an aggressive diplomacy to desist India and Pakistan from going to war.” Senior government officials say that Musharraf has accepted Putin’s invitation to visit Moscow, as he wanted to show to the world that Pakistan desires peace and security and is ready to walk on the path of finding the peace road.
Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell also talked to Musharraf last Wednesday. “We have a good sense that President Bush expressed his desire to resolve the Kashmir problem by bringing both India and Pakistan on the negotiating table and how can progress be made toward that during this summer,” said a senior official.
It is in this backdrop coupled with some intense behind-the-scene diplomatic efforts that Armitage visited the region. It would be followed by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s visit to Pakistan.
“A series of incoming and outgoing visits have either been proposed or finalized between the US, Russia, China, Pakistan and India and all these visits will have a common objective of focusing full attention on finding a solution to the Kashmir problem,” according to the senior official.
Musharraf’s repeated offer to India for dialogue seems to have started paying off, as at least it has made some headway in the Western capitals where the decision-makers are convinced that Pakistan seems serious to resolve the Kashmir problem through dialogue.
Another realization is that these people in the influential Western capitals are also convinced that India is showing obstinacy in an obvious bid to “linger the security crisis in South Asia.”
