With the experience of dealing with Pakistan in the past, most people in India end up concluding (rather philosophically) that relations between the two neighbours can best be described as ‘Kabhi Khushi-Kabhi Gum’. That is perhaps a generous assessment, for what appears more appropriate is the phrase: Thodi Khushi-Kaafi Gum!
The recent visit of the Indian Foreign Secretary Ms. Nirupama Rao and Home Minister P. Chidambaram to Pakistan to meet their counterparts at the end of June 2010 was the first Ministerial level visit from the Indian side since 26/11. Not surprisingly, it turned out to be another ritualistic visit.
Nirupama Rao visited Islamabad to prepare the ground work for the visits of Mr. P. Chidambaram, followed by the visit of Mr. S. M. Krishna, Indian Foreign Minister. The Foreign Ministers of both the countries will meet on July 15, 2010 in Islamabad. This will be the next crucial step in the direction of enhancing Indo-Pak bilateral ties.
During the Indian Foreign Secretary and Home Minister’s visits, issues related to mutual concerns were raised. Cross border terrorism by networks such as Lashker-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Jamaat-ud-Dawah remained the prime concern of India, along with issues such as the trial of Pakistani suspects linked to the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and infiltrations across the Line of Control. However, as witnessed earlier, Pakistan’s indifference has been apparent as they did not offer any assurances to root-out anti-India activities from their soil.
The only positive aspect of the visit was Pakistan’s keen interest to start trade talks with India. In a move to bolster economic ties between the two countries, Islamabad is considering reciprocating the long-unrequited Indian gesture of treating it as a Most Favoured Nation (MFN). Although, India gave Pakistan the status of an MFN in 1996, yet Islamabad is reluctant to grant India the same status. Currently, bilateral trade between two countries amounts to $2.2 billion. If relations improve it may even touch $10 billion as estimated by the FICCI.
However, be that as it may, India continues to witness Pakistan’s negligence or ‘blasé attitude’ where Indian sentiments are concerned. During the meet between Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik and the Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram, the Indian flag was displayed upside down. However, India chose to downplay the issue. It might be useful to point out that the incident is not without precedence; in 2005 when a special PIA plane with President Pervez Musharraf flew from Islamabad to Jaipur, the Indian flag was upside down. The repeated mistakes raise doubts about Pakistan’s intentions to honour Indian sentiments and appear to be a deliberate attempt on their part to appease fundamentalist forces.
The recent turmoil in Kashmir witnessed the first Army march in Srinagar in a decade, to normalise the deteriorating situation in the Jammu and Kashmir. On July 7, 2010 the Congress, held Pakistan responsible for the ongoing mayhem in J&K. The Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan said that “elements from across the border and the separatists inimical to the unity of our country are trying to create tension and violence in the valley” and suggested the Centre should take up the issue with Islamabad.
The Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram articulated the Indian government’s position and blamed LeT for the outbreak of violence in J&K. The Congress stand strengthens the position taken by Chidambaram. The weakening situation in J&K may have a bearing on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s outreach to Pakistan for the restoration of normal ties. In fact, it has been noted in the past that whenever India tries to normalise relations with Pakistan, the fundamentalist forces in Pakistan increase their anti-India and terrorist activities in the Kashmir Valley as well as in the rest of the Indian Territory.
India has always maintained that a stable Pakistan is essential for India’s security. Therefore, Indo-Pak dialogue and discussion is a necessary process. However, the Indian dilemma lies in the fact that New Delhi is not able to identify the appropriate authority within Pakistan with whom to initiate fruitful talks and therefore each attempt is met with a setback. There is always skepticism over what the Pakistan’s civilian government will or can offer India for strengthening bilateral relations.
Radicalisation of Pakistani middle class is rising; thus the secularisation of Pakistan is a far reaching dream. Islam per se is not dangerous but an inclusive and a hard-line interpretation of Islam can definitely be catastrophic. Had fundamentalist forces been open minded about this issue, the present world would have been more peaceful.
Track-II initiatives like ‘Aman ki Asha’ taken by the Times of India Group in collaboration with Jang Group of Pakistan may not achieve the desired result as this sort of media centric initiative cannot go to the root of the problem and address core issues of concern. The crisis between India and Pakistan is political and political crises require political solution. Therefore, a strong political will is required from both sides for achieving long-term peace.
Pakistan is also a victim of the scourge of terrorism that has claimed the lives of several innocents. Therefore, the need of the hour for Pakistan is to uproot the bane of extremism from its backyard. On India’s part, the government should mobilise the international community to put pressure on Pakistan to restrain extremist tendencies and terrorist activities originating from their soil. It will be interesting to see the outcome of the forthcoming meeting of the Indian and Pakistani Foreign Ministers at Islamabad on July 15, but the track record of such meetings between the neighbours does not foster optimism.
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