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03/10/2005
THE INDO-PAK CURRENT PEACE PROCESS
Speech at WISCOMP, New Delhi, 3 October 2005.

The current peace process between our two countries reminds me of those chess tournaments in which a Grand Master plays simultaneously against a number of opponents. Except that in our case, we have the same grand masters playing the same game at the same time, on multiple chessboards.
Overtly, the game is played by your Ministry of External Affairs and by our Foreign Affairs Ministry. They perform their diplomatic minuet with a practiced familiarity, not dissimilar to the well-choreographed ballet performed by the Wagah border guards at the flag-lowering ceremony every evening. They glare at each other with a pre-rehearsed hostility and then slam the gates against each other. It is pure theatre.
At another level, there has been a series of informal contacts between a number of self-nominated Indians and Pakistanis rushing in where nervous diplomats fear to tread. These meetings such as the Neemrana dialogue conduct a modern form of ping-pong diplomacy - once on your side of the net, the next time on ours. These get-togethers have proved to be very useful for they have enabled both sides to say things to each other that neither dared to reveal to its public on whose behalf they are talking. They could conceive the inconceivable, articulate bold ideas, suggest initiatives, explore alternatives, and after having exhausted each other's hospitality, convey to their respective sponsors a feeling of forward movement, even if it was occasionally only in circles.
Most of these dialogues have been conducted by persons who during their public careers advocated the cause of war, and now in retirement as private citizens extol the merits of peace. However, notwithstanding their change of heart and the furtiveness of their communions, they perform a role that is obviously of some use to both our governments, for otherwise why should they be allowed to continue? [EXTRACT]
The full text has been published in WHEN BUSH COMES TO SHOVE & OTHER WRITINGS (2006).
 
03 October 2005
 
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