President Zardari in India

This was the first time a Pakistani head of state had visited India since Musharraf in 2005.


Editorial April 08, 2012

One of the more unheralded achievements of the PPP government has been the way it has repaired relations from the nadir of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, when war seemed a very realistic possibility. Rather than try to be overly ambitious, the government has cautiously taken small steps towards lasting peace, with trade and regular high-level meetings inching the process forward. President Asif Ali Zardari’s trip to the shrine of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti in Ajmer, which allowed him to hold talks with Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, was yet another indicator that the two countries are moving firmly towards setting up a lasting peace between them. By all accounts the talks were cordial and Dr Singh accepted Zardari’s offer of a return visit to Pakistan. This was also the first time a Pakistani head of state had visited India since Musharraf in 2005, marking another landmark in the slow return to normalcy.

The two countries are fortunate that they both have leaders who are committed to the peace process but that does not mean that danger is not lurking around every corner. The army could easily scuttle whatever progress has been made by working around the elected government and embarking on yet another military adventure along the lines of the Kargil conflict. In India, too, the hawks (of which significant sections of the media is a part) remains resolutely anti-Pakistan. Issues like Hafiz Saeed, who had a bounty placed on him by the US for actionable information leading to his conviction, are still unsolved. The two have so far decided to at least go ahead with lowering trade barriers with Pakistan set to grant India Most-Favoured Nation status by the end of the year. However, the rigid visa regime between the two, which makes it next to impossible for the citizens of either to visit, must be relaxed as well.

Also, as the recent landslide tragedy at Siachen has showed, both countries need to realise that perhaps the time has come to demilitarise the glacier.

Far more lives on either side have been lost to the ravages of weather than to actual combat and the cost of maintaining troops for both countries on the world’s highest battlefield should be enough to necessitate a final push for a bilateral drawdown.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 9th, 2012.

COMMENTS (22)

hra | 11 years ago | Reply

why didnt he use that money to call rescue teams from all over the world to help dig out 150 people from the snow? we are suffering and will in future if we keep supporting him.

Goodwill is more important to him then the precious lives of our people :(

MIQ | 11 years ago | Reply

@shouvik mukherjee: for your information, he was arrested properly trialed for over a year and was released by the court as there was no evidence of his involvement, also for your information, Paksitani courts are more independent and transparent than Indian, you might have seen a recent survey told, its now improving ... dont u think, dont you see, its India's habit of making hue & cry for no reason and Pakistan is soft target and excuse to blind ppl of India, please grow up now... we should learn to live, Also, dont you see, Pakistan has lost the most since 2001, lives, economy and respect... why wont we not like to restore to pre war conditions... i think, for us, best thing is, we should not care about India, America..as like America, India is never happy too, we have been "doing more and more" and demands have been on imprest system, increasing as more as getting furnished ...

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