Is India-Pakistan peace possible?

Regional peace, and to an extent, the peace of the world has been held hostage by India-Pakistan hostility for the past 66 years. Many in the region get a nervous stomach when they see the two nuclear rivals flexing their military muscles. And yet, most of us have given up on the hope of there ever being true peace. This is because both countries find themselves slaves of their history. When Pakistan was carved out of India, its creation was deemed an existential threat to India’s secular identity. And a newly created Pakistan was so vulnerable that it had to identify itself with whatever India was not. Indian virtues hence became vices for us and our vices were often celebrated. As a consequence, people on both sides had to suffer.

The biggest enemies of the two nations are common. Take for instance poverty, overpopulation, disease, natural calamities, terrorism and inefficient state apparatus. But we fail to come together to fight these menaces. On the contrary, this hostility has changed the very character of the two states. We have spent far too much energy in trying to weaken each other. As a result, India has not been able to realise its true potential and the Pakistani state has gone soft.

Saner minds, of course, understood the cost of this churlish behaviour and tried to fix the anomaly through talks. But the baggage is such that despite repeated attempts, we have failed badly. The best attempt came in the shape of the Lahore Declaration in 1999. Since then, whenever an opportunity has arisen, the state apparatus on both sides, and often non-state actors, have thwarted such initiatives.

Is it possible that this time when Nawaz Sharif returns to power, we can see a peace road map that cannot be sabotaged that easily? I think it is. I believe that a window of opportunity will exist immediately after government formation in Pakistan and before the Indian elections next year. Leaders on both sides need big achievements in the immediate future to build their legacy and if thorny issues like Kashmir are resolved, they may even end up winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

But is it not merely wishful thinking? We know that the constituency of hostility on both sides is bigger than the constituency of peace. Then why would such elements let peace prevail? I think it is because of the changing nature of regional and national challenges. Both countries are energy hungry, struggling with poverty, terrorism and growing populations. In such circumstances, emphasis shifts from border disputes to new opportunities of acquiring more resources. Unfortunately, due to our mutual hostility, the landlocked Central Asian Republics have not been able to export their natural resources through peaceful trade routes. As the date of US withdrawal from Afghanistan approaches in the absence of a broader India-Pakistan settlement, there is fear that such projects will remain mere pipe dreams and their absence will cause more poverty across the region. However, if both countries can settle their differences before that and keep economic matters away from politics, there are enough benefits for both of us to last a lifetime.

Both countries have compromised a lot in order to fight each other. Perhaps, we have always approached the issue of peace from the wrong angle. In order to build peace, it seems we will have to be ready to build a partnership. After all, we have done it in the past with China where we resolved our border disputes and became partners.

Such a solution will help India tap the Central Asian resources and give Pakistan an opportunity to build its economy through developing new trade routes. As an added benefit, it will afford us more time to fight and get rid of non-state actors.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 18^th, 2013.