JK News Today Analysis
The US Vice President J D Vance’s crisp statement made to press after hours-long of talks with Iranian delegation in Islamabad said it all : there was no agreement between the two sides and minutes later he and his delegation were heading back home . More telling was the scene of Pakistan pulling down its self-congratulatory and celebratory sign of “ Islamabad Talks “ which were put up all across Pakistani capital city signaling that all hopes had collapsed like talks.
It also was a dismal exit for Pakistan as host and the narratives that it had built around talks with it being at the center and front of it. The world also realized that it had grossly overestimated Pakistan’s capacity to broker peace talks leading to positive outcome.
There was no hint in Vance’s press conference whether the talks have any future . The scene was worrying as no word was spoken on the wo-week ceasefire which by all reckoning fits the term fragile ..
Diplomacy has its own doctrine ; it doesn’t follow a particular script , before ,, during or after such talks in which the complex situations and issues are involved . But there was a hope against hope that something hopeful emerge out of the talks if not an outright positive outcome .
The US insisted Iran give an “ affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon,” and, on the other hand, , Iran wanted its sovereign rights over waterways and nuclear energy for peaceful purposes be recognized . For both the nuclear power and the Strait of Hormuz that has become a big sticking point.
A basic flaw that led to the collapse of the talks , despite marathon round of 21 hours on Saturday and Sunday , is that the home work was not done by the host country-Pakistan . It was more into staging an event rather than seeking a solution to the complex problem that affected not only Islamabad but almost the entire world as the energy supplies had been badly hit ever since the war began on February 28 .
The very fact that the two-week ceasefire was termed as “ fragile” by all sides , it was incumbent upon Pakistan that claimed to have mediated between Washington and Tehran and “ saved the day” by pulling a ceasefire in a difficult situation , to focus on providing an environment . The facilities matter but more important is to bridge the gaps before the table is set for talks. The effort should have been to search for a middle ground . This indeed was not an easy task to do in the first ever face to face meeting between the US and Iran in 47 years after Iran’s Islamic Revolution of 1979 . But , now it is clear that Pakistan didn’t have the capacity and the strategic leverage , that it was boasting all along , to match the expectations .
That showed that Pakistan lacked the diplomatic and political capital to encourage such an opening . It’s time for Pakistan to reflect, why talks did not succeed. It is a question more for Islamabad , perhaps Rawalpindi – the headquarters of Pakistan army- than Iran and US to ponder . It continues to play up the statements hailing its efforts , but the ground reality showed where it stood on Sunday morning when the talks ended on “ no agreement” note.
Vance made it clear that the 21 hours of peace talks in Islamabad had failed to produce an agreement to end the war .” They have chosen not to accept our terms .”. He said, it is bad news . Bad news more for Iran than the United States”
“ We leave here with a very simple proposal : a method of understanding that is our final and best offer,” and he added : “ We’ll see if the Iranians accept it.”
Vance qualified his statement saying, “ The simple fact is that we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon , and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon”
Foreign Ministry of Iran has accused the US of making “ excessive demands” and asked it to refrain from doing so .The Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei described the talks “ intensive” but said that the success of the negotiations depends on the seriousness and good faith of the opposing sides. He decried “ excessive demands and unilateral requests by the US and accept Iran’s “legitimate rights and interests.”
Among the topics, he discussed across the table were the Straits of Hormuz, Iran’s nuclear program , and a “ complete end to war in Iran.”
It is a sort of stalemate which has left the world more worried than it was before and during the wat. The question mark on ceasefire has sent the world scrambling for oil and fertilizers . The world is increasingly worried about its security than before the talks began on Saturday .
“ Arun Joshi is international affairs expert and author of most popular books like “ Eyewitness Kashmir: Teetering on Nuclear War)
