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| New unpleasantness in Indo-Pak relations | | MEN & MATTERS | | B L KAK
It is New Delhi versus Islamabad, once again. Allegations continue to be made against Pakistan, of late. One of these is a new form of terror targeting peace in India. And Islamabad has dismissed the charge saying Pakistan itself was a victim of terrorism and is working tirelessly to eliminate it.
New unpleasantness in India-Pakistan relations is regrettable but not really surprising. This is the price the big two of South Asia are paying for not making use of their long spell of peace and bonhomie that followed the historic steps taken by Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, and President, Gen. Parvez Musharraf, to break free from the past. Clearly, either the two parties are oblivious to the problem at the heart of their uneasy relationship intentionally avoiding to recognise the source of their friction.
One also senses a hope that with the passage of time, the question of Kashmir could resolve itself or might be forgotten by the people involved. If this is the case, it is not a very realistic expectation. This approach to Kashmir ignores what is at stake on both sides. This issue does not affect the people of Kashmir alone but holds long-term political and economic ramifications for both India and Pakistan and their billion plus population.
Political instability emanating from Kashmir in the form of violence and terror attacks is sure to affect the economy of India and Pakistan. More so in the case of India because its economy is growing by leaps and bounds. Pakistan, facing formidable challenges in Sindh, Balochistan and NWFP, is already faring poorly on economic front. If India is faced with similar challenges, it could affect the flow of investments. Which would be a tragic setback to a country that is aspiring for world leadership and is expected to be an economic superpower by 2020.
A violent and restless Kashmir could cloud these prospects. And it would be naïve to think that economic prosperity could help the neighbours bury the issue of Kashmir between themselves. The exchange of accusations recently is a sign that India-Pakistan relations have already hit a rough patch. The South Asian leaders must act on Kashmir to gift their people lasting peace and prosperity.
The ‘peace and friendship’ initiative unveiled by Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, is a bold attempt to kick-start the stalled peace process with Pakistan. The proposals offered by the Indian leader at the historic occasion of opening yet another India-Pakistan bus service — between Amritsar and Lahore — seek to establish ‘common institutions’ across the Line of Control in Kashmir besides forging a pact of ‘peace, security and friendship’ with Pakistan.
Apparently, Manmohan Singh’s initiative has come in response to a wide range of freewheeling ideas and proposals floated by Pakistan President, Gen. Musharraf, in the past few months. The Pak leader’s unconventional proposals on Kashmir, put forward informally in his interaction with the media, are aimed at gauging the public opinion at home and reaction in Delhi and the Kashmir Valley. These have included demilitarisation, self-governance for Kashmiris, doing away with the LoC and joint administration of Kashmir etc.
The Manmohan Singh initiative is a response to this loud thinking in Islamabad. However, there is a crucial and understandable difference in the approaches of the two leaders. While Gen. Musharraf’s ideas about reviving the Indo-Pak dialogue were Kashmir-centric, Manmohan Singh has sought to include the K word in a bigger scheme of things. While Pakistan insists Kashmir is the real source of tensions between the neighbours, India argues the issue should be part of the overall dialogue process.
This is a subtle but strategic difference. Pakistan has underscored this in its carefully calibrated response to Delhi’s initiative. While welcoming Manmohan Singh’s argument that simultaneous progress on Kashmir and the normalisation of bilateral relations should culminate in a ‘treaty of peace, security and friendship,’ Pakistan has emphasised that Kashmir dispute remains the ‘root cause’ of strained relations between the two countries and it needs to be resolved for any initiatives aimed at better ties to be meaningful.
While the nature and modalities of such a dialogue have to be determined by India and Pakistan, observers can only underscore the vital importance of such an initiative for the huge population of the two countries and, of course, the people of Kashmir. The issue has been hanging fire for more than half a century. It has taken the neighbours, that now possess nuclear weapons, to three devastating wars besides inflicting untold misery and suffering on the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Lasting peace will continue to elude the South Asia and prevent the realisation of its true economic and development potential as long as it doesn’t tackle the Kashmir question once and for all to the satisfaction of people of Jammu and Kashmir. And there cannot be a better time for peace than now.
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