Pakistan-India ties and good sense
What she may have meant was that China will stand behind Pakistan in its new isolationist posture: “China is a time-tested friend of Pakistan and Pakistan is proud of this friendship... Pakistan and the US do have a difference of opinion on certain operational matters, but we hope that the differences can be resolved amicably… Whatever the role of a country in the region, Pakistan’s importance cannot be diminished and the US acknowledges this fact”. It is just that the US is more diplomatic and Pakistan more unbuttoned.
The US, however, speaks through its acts and the last act that has upset Pakistani authorities is the way a champion of the Kashmir cause from Indian Kashmir, Ghulam Nabi Fai, has been treated in Washington.
The issue of US assistance to Pakistan is also facing increasing problems, with regard to allegations on how the aid is spent — made worse by ‘leaks’ in the American press accusing Islamabad of diverting it for other uses. On the other hand, Pakistan keeps hounding accredited American diplomats in Pakistan for not displaying diplomatic number plates on their official vehicles, knowing full well that such display will expose them to target killers over whom Pakistan has no control. More reaction could follow when ‘Kashmir centres’ in Europe too are ‘examined’ by governments. Already some European newspapers have carried reports on their sources of funding. The remark about Indian hegemony was perhaps uncalled for after a very good beginning earlier in the month, with Pakistan’s commerce minister showing interest in expanding bilateral trade and even conceding that Pakistan should accord India the ‘most-favoured nation’ status in reciprocity. By using the ‘h’ word Pakistan, runs the risk of falling in with the plans of some in the US who want to set up India as a rival power to China in the region. So far, neither China nor India is willing to bite the bait.
But Pakistan is ‘path dependent’ when it comes to relations with India. Its history is dominated by the strategy of using ‘oceanic’ linkages to avoid ‘continental’ pressures. For most of the 20th century, it was America; now it seems to be China. What reflected well on the maturity of thinking in Pakistan was Islamabad’s ability to be friends with both the US and China; indeed it was Pakistan that brought the two major powers of the world together in the 1970s. Today, good relations are needed with the two superpowers plus the regional power, India. That is what the world wants and that is where lies the key to nuclear Pakistan’s national security. Ms Khar is to visit India in the coming week. We hope that the trade-related confidence-building measures being contemplated will be put in place without delay and that India — which has given a good account of its intent by not blaming the latest terrorist attacks in Mumbai on Pakistan — will act jointly with Pakistan to resolve the problem of cross-border terrorism too.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 26th, 2011.
COMMENTS (12)
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your article is so full of nice word ,But your mentality shows different picture at all.
Look at this Picture where you have put Pakistan on top of Indian flag ,No it is not goody goody word that will resolve this problem ,You need to change your thinking process, If you want to set record of equal equal with india than show the world how you can do it and than DO IT ,By publishing Fake picture like above and feel good about yourself than you are good at where you are ,wait and watch future.
self obsessed people .. you are no where near india and you think to compare yourself with india .
The prospects of peace between two countries born out of hatred are bleak. But, when there is a will, there is way. So, in place of hate-mongering, a peace initiative is welcome.
Plzzzz add some ''Colours'' to your editorial .....''Real Colours'' that should reflect the Public Opnion and their sentiments.
Assalam-o-Allaikum Warahmatullah.No doubt the strong and stable ties have the most important values between Pakistan-India in the region but for this purpose Kashmir issue's resolution is the only bridge to pave these ties on permanent basis.Hanging in the balance the Kashmir issue shall never pave the way of true friendship between Pakistan-India in the future so that both countries could spend their wealth on the betterment and welfare of their nations instead of purchasing heavy and expensive weapons.
Ms. Khar, will have a tough time selling the LOC as the de-facto international Indo-Pak border, to her fellow compatriots. We in India, wish her the very best in this endeavour. Her 'bravado' of "“Pakistan is a sovereign state that wants friendly relations with all neighbouring countries, including India, but will not accept the hegemony of any country in the region”; is not music to the mandarins in South Block / New Delhi. Nevertheless, Ms. Nirupama Rao, probably has strict instructions from the Indian Prime Minister's Office, to allow for this hyperbole and not to let it become a show-stopper. But everytime Ms. Khar utters such suo moto statements, it will make her subsequent statements even less credible. There is no denying that she is young, and not a seasoned hand at this high table of international diplomacy and negotiations.
This piece of writing is all over the place. Lol, the international community is now manmohan's diatrabes? Not surpsing from the leftist conspiratorial theorists ET employs. Pak will keep up its relations as it sees fit with the current (but rapidly declining and losing against the talibs) hyper power and the world's future superpower China. Indians will have you believe a lot of myths, as evidenced by their reactions.
“indeed it was Pakistan that brought the two major powers of the world together in the 1970s. “
The Chinese want you to think so.
Although she is very young for the responsibility she has been assigned, we should give her some time to prove herself. Sometimes things dont go just as we expect.