Behind the scenes, Pak’s military helped revive talks with India

PM Narendra Modi’s surprise trip to meet Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif on Friday raised hopes that stop-and-start negotiations between the nuclear-armed neighbours might finally mean progress after more than 65 years of hostility. Aides say the meeting was arranged directly between the two prime ministers on just a few hours’ notice when Modi called to wish 66-year-old Sharif a happy birthday. On Friday, Modi and Sharif agreed that their foreign secretaries would meet in mid-January to restart talks. 

Pakistani officials say “ownership” of peace talks by the military and the appointment of a recently retired general as the national security adviser have given Pakistan renewed confidence to restart dialogue with India, including speaking about the thorny issue of terrorism. “This round is different because there is backing from the top where it matters... the army chief is himself on board,” a top diplomat said before the visit. Army chief Gen. 

Raheel Sharif is said to be close to the new national security adviser, recently retired general Naseer Khan Janjua, who in October replaced civilian Sartaj Aziz, an ally of the prime minister. A senior Indian official in New Delhi also said military backing for peace talks marked a major change, with Janjua’s involvement as national security advisor a key sign that Gen. Sharif supports resuming the dialogue. Direct contact between the two prime ministers is a major factor in thawing relations — they met on the sidelines of the Paris climate change summit last month. 

However Pakistani officials said that true change only became possible after Janjua’s appointment. Earlier this month, the national security advisers of both countries met in Bangkok, paving the way for Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj’s visit to Pakistan for the Heart of Asia summit where she agreed to reopen dialogue with Pakistan, resuming a process broken off since 2012. Previous attempts to resume talks have been postponed, mostly due to the Indian government’s insistence that the focus must be on terrorism. 

With a military man having a greater say in the process, there is more confidence about discussing such sensitive topics, several officials said. “I think in the past there was a hesitation from Pakistan, to talk about terrorism [with India] but that may have changed,” the diplomat said. “There is better division of labour. The real decision-making is happening behind the scenes.” 

Pakistani officials and western diplomats in Islamabad said U.S. officials also worked hard to convince army chief Sharif during his visit to Washington last month to support going back to the negotiating table. “India came up a lot during the army chief’s visit to Washington, definitely with the Secretary of State [John Kerry] and also others,” a western diplomat said.A second member of Sharif’s cabinet said the same of Modi. “When Modi was in the US, he was encouraged strongly by Obama to rethink his approach towards Pakistan,” the minister said.