When Manmohan Singh & Nawaz Sharif meet

As Indian and Pakistani premiers prepare to meet, on September 29, in New York, it could not be plainer that there are many who do not want peace between the two countries. Seventy-two hours before the eagerly awaited meeting, terrorists struck in Indian-held Jammu and Kashmir. Following this, the BJP leadership went into a tailspin, with the Indian media bringing up the rear. In Pakistan, too, there is no dearth of Platos keen to express their weariness of the peace process between the South Asian Siamese Twins.

While terrorist attacks are designed to derail the peace process, they also act as a grim reminder that the two sides face common threats. Terrorism, poverty, overpopulation, epidemics, ignorance and communal disharmony threaten our very social fabric. Our conflicts might be grounded in history that cannot be brushed aside, but for far too long they have defined who we are and are hence, responsible for our retrogressive historical experience. The saddest part is that each time a terrorist strikes anywhere in the two countries, a political force steps up to help him fulfil his purpose, for what do terrorists want, other than to sabotage the dialogue.

India needs to realise that a strong democratic government in Islamabad, committed to stamping out the menace of terrorism, is in its best interest. It is strange that while the Indian state eyes the role of an international power, it refuses to let go of its fixation with a country that is no longer in its league. During the past 12 years, as Pakistan undertook the existential fight against terrorism, the Indian side has refused to offer any solace, except a reluctant restraint. Instead of advertising its victimhood in the world, New Delhi should have seized the moment in denying the non-state actors any oxygen, by settling all possible disputes between the two countries. We refuse to see our disputes for what they are — bloody and painful, yes, but only border disputes.

In the past decade at least, Pakistan, in many ways, has proven to be a barrier that separates India and the terror groups. If, for some reason, Islamabad were to lose control or be vanquished by such elements, imagine what this spectre could do to India. If you sitting in Delhi still don’t get the picture and insist on highlighting a few odd incidents of terror, just take a hard look at Pakistan and what such groups have done to us. Hence, there is no point in disrupting the peace process with Islamabad in the lame hope that, one day, the country will collapse under the weight of its own contradictions. That way, too, you lose.

Time and time again, New Delhi has given Pakistan demands that are primarily designed to humiliate the state in the eyes of its own citizens. Handing over Pakistani nationals to a country that has fought four wars with us hardly seems plausible. While our government fights terrorism even today, it cannot fight a substantial part of its population that is conservative. The best way is to dismantle the narrative that fuels hatred towards India. And the only way to do that is to settle the border disputes that have been thorns in our side. Despite whatever is said, Pakistan has a good track record of settling border disputes.

The festering legacies of Partition have done more terrible things to Pakistan. One by one, the non-state actors in the country have been collected by al Qaeda. Granted that India-centric groups have still managed to stay away from it but they, too, can easily be assimilated. It is important that the two sides do not allow our mutual disputes to be hijacked by groups like al Qaeda.

It is imperative that instead of playing politics with our collective future, politicians, on both sides, get their act together. There should be one India policy in Pakistan and one Pakistan policy in India. If we ever conclude that even toying with the idea of a war is plain stupid, let us work on a solution that ends misery on both sides.

When Manmohan Singh and Nawaz Sharif meet on September 29, they should remember they need to do what is right, not what is easy or popular.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 28^th,  2013.

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