Investor Presentaiton
Raising the Stakes in Jammu and Kashmir
Crisis Group Asia Report N°310, 5 August 2020
Page 31
and trade across the Line of Control. If and when relations improve sufficiently for
dialogue about Kashmir, it will only be meaningful if Kashmiris on both sides are
included. 164
Track II dialogues could also be a useful mechanism for defusing tensions. As a
former Indian high commissioner to Pakistan said, "They cannot be a substitute for
Track I - official engagement – but they do provide state actors an impetus to begin
a dialogue on resolving conflict". 165 Such interactions and people-to-people initia-
tives have the potential at the very least to stimulate ideas and inform policymakers
about the other side's perspective. Visa restrictions largely prevent Indian and Paki-
stani citizens from participating in Track II initiatives in either country, but such
meetings have in the past been held outside the region.
164
An Indian civil society activist who has led several Track II India-Pakistan initiatives empha-
sised: "No dialogue is no option; it has to begin between India and Pakistan and between the two
states and the Kashmiri people". Crisis Group interview, New Delhi, June 2019. Crisis Group has
long recommended including Kashmiris in any India-Pakistan negotiations on the Kashmir conflict.
See Crisis Group Reports, Stabilising a Cold Peace; and Learning from History, both op. cit.
165 Crisis Group interview, New Delhi, June 2019.View entire presentation