At an impasse

Yet another round of talks between India and Pakistan has ended in an impasse. The only hope now is that the foreign ministers meet again toward the end of the year to break the deadlock. We know the history of troubled relations between the two countries and we have transferred more or less the same heritage of anger and antagonism to our third generations. Once parts of the same empires and having lived under common kingdoms and states, Pakistan and India have drawn an iron curtain between them. They have moved in different directions and acquired different identities. It is natural for states to take different routes but it is not natural to stay hostile for so long or hang between cold peace and cold war.

More dangerously, a combination of factors like fear, ambition and rivalry has pushed the two countries to acquire nuclear capability with multiple means to deliver weapons in the shortest of time which can hold cities, industrial and military complexes and the population hostage to strategic decision makers. No other two neighbouring countries with such a common heritage live in such an unhappy and confrontational situation as India and Pakistan do. What are the issues that continue to drive the engines of conflict?

The narrative of regarding the other as the enemy dominates the national outlook in both countries. But such outlooks can change with dedicated and conscious efforts on both sides.

There is general agreement that war is no solution for disputes like the ones over Kashmir and water. Any major conventional conflict would escalate to dangerous levels. But this is based on the assumption that decision makers in Delhi and Islamabad will be rational and avoid taking risks. India wants the issue of groups operating from Pakistan involved in terrorist activities in India to be discussed and resolved. Since the Mumbai terror attacks India, instead of negotiating, has presented Pakistan with a list of demands. India continues to doubt and reject the actions that Pakistan has taken in arresting and prosecuting the Mumbai suspects in good faith.

Having seen the global tide turned against Pakistan during the past nine years, India has subjected it to a ‘do more’ strategy but terrorism is our common enemy and requires common efforts.

One thing that our Indian friends ignore is that Pakistan is fighting a battle of survival not in a territorial sense but in re-establishing its identity as a liberal, democratic state according to the vision of its founders. The forces that challenge Pakistan through terrorism want a theocratic state. It may matter a great deal for India what type of state Pakistan is.

We need bold leadership on both sides to resolve disputes with an open mind and change the fate of over a billion people in the subcontinent.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 19^th, 2010.