The meeting between Prime Minister Modi and his Pakistan counterpart, Mr Nawaz Sharif, on the sidelines of the climate conference in Paris on Monday is unlikely to yield immediate outcomes.
But the merest personal contact between the top leaders of countries that have historically had a conflicted relationship is in itself a public good. Prime Minister Sharif was not short of positive comments when he spoke to the media about the meeting, and he didn’t say anything grudgingly, while PM Modi hasn’t at all commented on the contact. The Indian spokesman played down the meeting which he portrayed as a chance encounter in the leaders’ lounge at the Paris conclave.
However, there is never an element of randomness in such circumstances. The name of the game is, in fact, careful choreography. And such things take place routinely in international diplomacy.
Since the last meeting of the PMs at Ufa in Russia in July, further contact was scuppered by the Pakistanis. Perhaps the Pakistani military establishment was uncomfortable that the two leaders should have agreed to discuss security issues first at the level of national security advisers, and only subsequently left room to talk about Kashmir.
May be it will be more practicable that the top leadership in both countries sanction unofficial contact through non-officials on a deniable basis at this stage. That may help to overcome protocol quagmires and assist in re-connecting officially. Perhaps the non-confrontational, and low-key but serious chat in Paris, even if in a brief pull-aside, is a pointer in that direction.
