ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Vice President and Parliamentary Leader in the Senate Senator Sherry Rehman on Sunday said the 21-hour negotiations in Islamabad represented only the first phase of what was expected to be a prolonged diplomatic process, cautioning against expectations of any immediate breakthrough.
“The 21-hour Islamabad Talks should typically constitute Episode One of a long series of negotiations. Don’t know why a “breakthrough” was expected from a first meeting,” she said while giving her reaction to The News on the conclusion of talks.
Sherry said peace deals were not black swan events. “They need protracted negotiations over a period of time with different sets of teams,” she said. She noted that Islamabad provided a safe space, strategic confidence and a historic opportunity to break the thin ice.
“Not to expect to conclude a final deal; when even the last nuclear deal between the US Obama Administration and Iran took 20 months of detailed negotiations,” she said.
She said diplomacy takes patience, protection from spoilers, quiet confidence-building and political will to walk away from the battlefield.
Senator Sherry said Pakistan delivered an off-ramp to both sides in the middle of a dangerous escalatory spiral. She said the civil-military leadership worked round the clock to leverage the trust all countries had in Islamabad. It can assist with agendas but it cannot secure outcomes.
She emphasized that ceasefire in and of itself was no mean a feat.
“Violations are often expected in such inflamed political environments,” she said, adding that everyone should take a breath and give the strategic pause in talks time, for both Tehran and Washington to mull over options and respond.
