Manjrika Sewak
Multi-Track Diplomacy between India and Pakistan: A Conceptual Framework for Sustainable Security
(Published by the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies
2 Elibank Road, Colombo 5, Sri Lanka, 2005, 136pp.)

Manjrika Sewek is Programme Officer of Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace (WISCOMP), an initiative of the Foundation for Universal Responsibility created by the Dalai Lama.  Here, she is concerned with non-official forms of diplomacy -Track Two - with its key concepts of relationship, process, capacity-building, coordination, collaboration, inclusivity, diversity, and transformation.  These are concepts which are not always welcomed by governments who often consider such initiatives detrimental to the 'real work' of the diplomats following the governmental Track One.

Track One is official government negotiators and back up resources.  Governments have a wide range of instruments at their bidding.  There is the President or Prime Minister of the country and his immediate staff.  During the time that Jawaharlal Nehru was Prime Minister, relations with Pakistan were treated as domestic problems and largely depended on Nehru who knew most of the Pakistani leadership personally from pre-Independence days.

Governments also have the Foreign Ministry with official diplomats, a certain research and intelligence capacity, and contacts at the United Nations, regional bodies, and in other countries.  There are also one or more intelligence services with agents, research capacities, and spies, some of whom are nationals of other countries.  The  number and size of the intelligence agencies vary from country to country.  In the United States there are some 15 intelligence agencies, so recently a Director of National Intelligence, John Negroponte , was named to try to bring together a synthesis of intelligence reports.

Governments have military, each branch usually with its own intelligence-gathering services.  Governments have ministries of commerce or trade - some of which, such as Japan, have extensive negotiating and research capacities.  Many governments have news or information services whose role is to present the government's views and usually to analyze the foreign press and media.  Many governments also have cultural bodies to present national cultures and to be in touch with cultural workers in other countries.

Governments can also call informally upon a wide range of contacts in business, religion, NGOs, the media, and educational bodies.  There is in many countries what the English call 'the Establishment', people who by their education, family history, wealth, and influence in sections of the society play a key role in society regardless of what political party is currently in the majority.  Diplomats are often from families of the establishment, have gone to the same schools or universities and can call upon people for their views, observations when traveling, and family contacts.

Depending on the size and nature of the country, sub-national units - states or provinces - also have foreign contacts for trade, investments, and tourism but sometimes have broader initiatives as well.  Before the break up of Yugoslavia, the Republic of Serbia had diplomatic relations with Israel while the Federal State of Yugoslavia did not.

Thus Track One diplomacy has always been "multi-track".  To what extent the Prime Minister or the Foreign Minister is able to coordinate this multitude of agents and initiatives will depend on the personality of the minister and the skills of his close staff.

Track Two diplomacy basically implies the involvement of nongovernmental agents in peace negotiations.  As Manjrika Sewak writes "Multi-track diplomacy involves efforts that seek to change not only government policy, but also the way people think.  This is extremely challenging because it means that the worldviews and basic attitudes of people need to undergo radical shifts for social change.  In order to accomplish such a change, multi-track actors need to first, identify their audience; second, communicate with their audience effectively and relentlessly; third, coordinate their efforts with other civil society actors (and engage track one actors as well); and fourth, frame their ideas and strategies in ways that are well-organized and compellingly argued."

Track Two exists for two reasons.  Increasingly, conflicts exist between a Government with all its structures named above, and a non-state actor - usually one or more armed movements - the LTTE in Sri Lanka, the Maoists in Nepal, the armed groups in Nagaland, or the ethnic minorities in Myanmar (Burma).  Governments are often reluctant to negotiate openly with armed groups fearing to give them legitimacy or fearing to encourage other such armed movements.  Yet, peace requires discussions with such groups.  Such talks can be carried on in unofficial ways which the government can deny later if needs be.

The second environment for Track Two efforts are those deep and prolonged tensions where, despite all the resources of governments, tensions and the danger of armed conflict continues.

Relations between Israelis and Palestinians bridge the two situations.  For a long time the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was considered by the Israeli government as a terrorist group with which no official negotiations could be carried on.  Now, the Palestinian Authority is considered a proto-government with whom negotiations are possible.  Tensions and divisions between the Israelis and Palestinians remain high, and Track Two initiatives are necessary to overcome many tensions if official negotiations are to progress.

Relations between India and Pakistan also bridge the two situations.  On the one hand India and Pakistan are both States and have normal - if often tense - diplomatic relations.  However, divided Kashmir falls outside 'normal' relations.  Kashmiri insurgents are not necessarily Pakistani civil servants, nor are pro-independence activists in Azad Kashmir Indian agents.  Bangladesh which was once Pakistan also presents special issues which bridge official diplomacy and civil society concerns.  Water sharing can be official diplomacy; Bangladesh migrants to West Bengal or northeast India cannot.

As Manjrika Sewak notes , the conflict India-Pakistan "can be described as protracted (because it has continued for a long period of time) intractable (because it has been resistant to sustainable positive change for more than fifty years), and deep-rooted (because it has affected the thinking and attitudes of people in different sections of society in the two countries; the hostility has not been limited to governments, but rather has permeated into public discourse."

Enemy images of each other have become part of the socialization process passed on to following generations by the Partition experience of parents and strengthened by the educational systems and the media.  Sewak reports that "In many of the interviews conducted with Pakistanis and Indians, the image of the 'Hindu expansionist state', which has not accepted the existence of Pakistan and the image of an 'Islamic terrorist state' which threatens the territorial integrity of India, emerged as important components of the socialization process that citizens in the two countries have undergone."  Therefore, one needs to look at how 'enemy images' and perceptions leading to mistrust and hostility are created and then how such psychological and emotional schisms can be overcome.

Faced with such complex situations, Track Two efforts must develop a wide range of techniques such as face-to-face dialogues, conflict resolution trainings, coexistence youth camps, and media engagements.  Some techniques address immediate issues, others more long-term issues relating to systemic and institutional change and the rebuilding of human relationships.  As Manjrika Sewak states "sustainable peace and security can be built only if the energies, perspectives and experiences of all the  stakeholders, particularly at an intimate level - are  injected into official peace processes."

She stresses in particular the important role that women can play in peace-building efforts.  As she underlines "A study of the peace process between Pakistan and India points to another significant role that women have played in peace-building: They have been able to negotiate and transcend 'fault-lines' and sustain cross-border dialogue, at times representing the only group of the civil society doing so…Despite these contributions, the voices of women remain absent from the negotiation table, even though their perspectives might help to make a negotiated settlement durable and lasting."

Track Two is a web of approaches with a plurality of actors.  Such efforts are an on-going process which does not produce immediate breakthroughs.  However, each effort helps build an infrastructure of people used to discussion and clear communication.

Manjrika Sewak has drawn upon key research on Track Two approaches and has interviewed people in the India-Pakistan process.  Her study is an important contribution to a growing field of new, peoples' diplomacy.

René Wadlow