India, Pakistan PMs to meet in Thimphu

The meeting between the prime ministers of India and Pakistan in Thimphu will be the first in nine months. But the expectations from the meeting are not very high, as relations between the two neighbors remain fraught with difficulty. P Sahadevan is an expert from Jawahar Lal Nehru University, New Delhi.

"I don't think they will engage in any serious dialogue there," he says. "I think the courtesy call on each other (between the two PMs) might take place. I don't think they are going to really decide on any agenda for dialogue."

The issue of terrorism

India suspended a four-year old bilateral peace process with Pakistan after the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008 that killed at least 166 people. New Delhi blamed the Pakistan-based militant group Laskar-e-Taiba for the attack. The Indian government has repeatedly called on Islamabad to act against those it believes are responsible for the killings before the bilateral dialogue can be resumed.

Islamabad insists it has clamped down on militants, arguing that the two neighbors should work towards restarting a full fledged peace process.

Addressing reporters in Thimphu on Tuesday, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi called on India to move forward. Pakistani experts feel that times have changed and the time has now come to leave the old bilateral bickering behind.

"Terrorism has also become a major problem for us as well," says Salma Malik , an expert from the Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad. "It would be wise to re-invoke the joint terrorism mechanism and talk about looking at this problem from a mutual prism so that both the countries can work out on that."

Espionage

The latest meeting between Singh and Gilani comes amid reports that India has won the right to interview David Headley, who was allegedly the key planner of the Mumbai attacks and is currently being held in a US jail. It also comes at a time when India is investigating the case of a female diplomat, who was arrested on charges of spying for Pakistan at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.

But experts doubt if the Indian side will put the issue of espionage on the agenda at the upcoming meeting. "The diplomat issue concerns India," says Sahadevan. "It is about the behavior of someone who was representing India. I don't think it is a huge factor between India and Pakistan. It is an issue that India needs to sort out."

SAARC and Indo-Pak rivalry

This year's summit marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of SAARC. The bloc was formed with the aim of strengthening regional development. But many think the long-running rivalry between India and Pakistan has severely affected the bloc's growth.

"SAARC has been overshadowed by Pakistan and India rivalry to a very high extent," says Salma Malik. "I guess it is up to these two countries to realize that SAARC is one of the only key fora available to these countries to negotiate with each other and not remain mired in traditional security problems alone. If they realize this, SAARC can really work."

A message shared by many in the region. At the start of the summit, Bhutan's Prime Minister Jigme Thinley said it was time for the bloc to take a critical look at itself, as it's "journey has not been one of outstanding success" amid tensions between its member states.

Author: Disha Uppal

Editor: Grahame Lucas