Sustainable peace between India and Pakistan will be difficult to achieve until the core impediments are addressed. Present leadership on both sides of the border is not strong enough to overcome challenges in the way of peace between the nuclear neighbours.
This view was expressed by participants at Islamabad Dialogue, an Indo-Pak peace dialogue organised jointly by Jinnah Institute (JI) and Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation (New Dehli).
The two-day dialogue, to be concluded on Friday, brought together Indian and Pakistani discussants from diverse backgrounds in diplomacy, legislation, military, media and academia.
After stating the achievements made so far for the resumption of the peace process, the participants presented their opinions identifying mistakes and areas needing work.
Back channel diplomacy, they agreed, had played a significant role in whatever achievements were made while starting Confidence Building Measures (CBM). It prevented relations between the two countries from deteriorating further while the peace process was officially disrupted in 2008.
The Mumbai terrorist attacks of 26/11 continue to haunt the Indian people. It was the sole obstacle barring the Indians from creating a constituency desiring peace with Pakistan, claimed a participant from India. He urged caution on the hype being created over ‘Mohali Spirit’, the cricket diplomacy, claiming, “We are running into a brick wall if we do not recognise the need for addressing the issues impeding the peace processes.”
However, many were optimistic that people on both sides of the border are not against peace. They opined that gestures like Mohali would pay dividends.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 29th, 2011.
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