A welcome meeting

If the DGMO meeting can be parlayed into diplomatic activity, then we may look forward to a more peaceful 2014.

The long-awaited and much-anticipated meeting between the directors general of military operations (DGMOs) of India and Pakistan has taken place. The state of the ceasefire, along the Line of Control (LoC), in the last year has been reduced to tatters and it was in urgent need of refurbishment. Alleged breaches of truce on both sides — India alleges 150 by Pakistan, Pakistan alleges 416 by the Indians — necessitated urgent work and a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and our Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was the catalyst. Pakistan had requested that there be diplomatic representation at any meeting of the DGMOs that takes place, the Indians demurred, and in the end, it was the military men who shook hands. Those adept at the arcane art of interpreting body language will have noted the generally positive positions of both men.

The outcome of the meeting produced no surprises and is all the better for that. Both sides pledged to uphold the 2003 LoC ceasefire accords and there was a commitment to ensuring that the ceasefire held. The principal victim of the ceasefire violations was the nascent peace process that has been in the diplomatic equivalent of an intensive care unit and close to a diagnosis of a persistent vegetative state — not far removed from being dead. Cooling temperatures on the LoC is a necessary requisite for any reboot of the bilateral talks.

Having a set of protocols worked out that would prevent a flare-up in the event of an inadvertent crossing of the LoC by a wandering civilian is a step forward. Such incidents have in the past been inflated out of all proportion. The ‘hotline’ between the two sides will be ‘re-energised’ and there will be two flag meetings a year between brigade commanders to follow up on the DGMO meeting at Wagah. These may appear small advances in terms of the bigger picture, but the devil is in the detail. If the DGMO meeting can be parlayed into diplomatic activity, then we may look forward to a more peaceful 2014.