JUBAIL, SAUDI ARABIA: Pakistan Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani’s recent remarks on Siachen are a step towards establishing peace between Pakistan and India. In any established democracy, a military chief would by now have been, at the very least, cautioned for making such comments on foreign policy matters. However, everyone accepts the reality vis-à-vis who really calls the shots in Pakistan on such issues.
The Indian defence ministry, through the junior minister, has welcomed General Kayani’s statement. It should be remembered that General Kayani had, till now, been seen as overseeing a change in the military to making it more ‘India-centric’. In that context, his comments on Siachen and Pakistan-India ties need a definite follow-up.
Pakistan should realise that it can never win Kashmir by military means. At the same time, India should understand that it can never win the hearts and minds of the Kashmiri population by using guns. Diplomacy is the only way forward to resolve all outstanding issues.
The sooner this is done the better, because a change in policies could mean that funds allocated for the world’s third- and seventh-largest armies could be diverted and used for education, healthcare and poverty alleviation.
Hundreds of millions of people in both countries live well below the poverty line. They have no access to clean water or adequate and reliable healthcare, and they do not take kindly to billions of rupees of taxpayers’ money spent on grandiose defence projects like intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Masood Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, April 23rd, 2012.
