Pakistan welcomes India dialogue calls

Pakistan’s Foreign Office said on May 14 that it welcomed voices in India calling for dialogue, while making clear that Islamabad would wait for an official signal from New Delhi before drawing broader conclusions. Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said at a weekly briefing in Islamabad that “constructive partnerships and sincere dialogue” were essential for peace, security and shared prosperity. The remarks came after former Indian army chief Manoj Naravane backed public calls in India for renewed engagement with Pakistan. Pakistani officials paired that language with a warning against what Andrabi described as “war mongering and belligerence” in recent months. ### Which Indian voices prompted Pakistan’s response? Manoj Naravane, India’s former army chief, said dialogue and people-to-people contact with Pakistan were important, according to Indian media reports published on May 14. The Hindu reported that Naravane backed comments by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader Dattatreya Hosabale, who had also argued for maintaining channels of engagement. (mofa.gov.pk) Dattatreya Hosabale, a senior RSS figure, said India had lost confidence in Pakistan’s military and political leadership but that civil society should lead the way, according to Moneycontrol and other Indian outlets. Those remarks gave Islamabad an opening to respond to a debate inside India without treating it as a formal policy shift by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. (thehindu.com) ### What exactly did Pakistan say in Islamabad? Tahir Andrabi said on May 14 that Pakistan saw such voices in India as encouraging and hoped “sanity will prevail,” according to the Foreign Office transcript and Pakistani media reports. He said Pakistan remained committed to diplomacy, respect for sovereignty and “meaningful international engagement” as the route to regional stability. (moneycontrol.com) The Foreign Office transcript also showed Andrabi rejecting confrontational rhetoric. Pakistan “continues to believe that constructive partnerships and sincere dialogue are essential,” he said, language that was carried by the ministry and repeated in subsequent press coverage. ### Why did Islamabad stop short of calling this a breakthrough? The Express Tribune reported on May 15 that Pakistan was reacting cautiously and would wait for an official response from the Indian government before drawing conclusions. (mofa.gov.pk) That phrasing kept the Pakistani position tied to state-to-state diplomacy rather than comments from retired officials or ideological figures across the border. Pakistan has used similar language in recent weeks. In an earlier briefing, Andrabi said Islamabad had never shied away from dialogue with India but that any talks should be “meaningful,” according to press coverage of the May 8 briefing. ### What is the backdrop to these remarks? Pakistan’s comments came after months of strain in the relationship and after Pakistani officials marked the anniversary of last year’s conflict with India. (tribune.com.pk) The Associated Press reported last week that Pakistan’s military warned it would respond strongly to any attack as the anniversary approached. The Foreign Office’s May 14 language therefore sat alongside continued vigilance on the Line of Control, according to Economic Times’ account of the briefing. (msn.com) That combination allowed Islamabad to publicly endorse dialogue while keeping its security posture unchanged. ### What happens next? India’s government had not publicly adopted the Naravane-Hosabale line as official policy in the reports reviewed on May 15. (apnews.com) Pakistan’s next formal marker is likely to be any response from New Delhi or the Foreign Office’s next weekly briefing in Islamabad, where Andrabi’s office posts full transcripts on the ministry website. (tribune.com.pk) (economictimes.indiatimes.com)