Editorial Two
Issue 401, October 1, 2018
Hopes of relations between India and Pakistan reaching a turning point to move towards conciliation rather than confrontation have yet again died with the cancellation of a proposed meeting between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Pakistan’s new Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
The meeting, proposed to be held on the side-lines of United Nations General Assembly in New York last week was called off, after India showed its ire over the killing of three Jammu and Kashmir policemen and the release of Stamps commemorating Burhan Wani.
New Delhi said that these developments showed the ‘true face of (the new Pakistani Prime Minister) Imran Khan.”
Dialogues important
It is often said that two parties at loggerheads must have increasing avenues for dialogues at various levels; because it is through talks that tension can be reduced, creating an environment to get down to serious business.
Notwithstanding the common ancestry and embittered political relations that have made India and Pakistan strange bedfellows, long and arduous years of belligerence have led to constant failure of talks, angry confrontations and periods of estrangement.
The two countries have fought several wars since independence and continued low-key conflicts during times of peace. As a writer mentioned, reels of news space on both sides have been devoted to the desperation at the Line of Control. And the pain of the average Kashmiri is nothing short of human misery.
Estranged neighbours
From politics to culture and cricket to business, India and Pakistan loom large in each other’s psyche as estranged brothers, both of whom would like to love but end up antagonising the other.
Will there ever be lasting peace? Can the two nuclear capable neighbours learn to live in peace and husband their considerable resources for mutual benefit? Can the people across the two borders linger hopes of reuniting families, exchange goods and services and foster goodwill and understanding?
There are no easy answers to these questions.
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