Peace with India

Both sides need to walk the talk

Pakistan and India have always had uneasy relations. While they share more than just geography with each other, there are elements on both sides of the border that eschew peace between the two. However, peace is what this region needs. In this backdrop, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s statements over the last few months, since his party came to power after the May elections, have been very encouraging as he is personally taking the initiative to restart the composite dialogue process with India.

In what seems to be a renewed effort, Nawaz Sharif reiterated aspirations about friendly ties with India the other day. That is all good and fine, as they look great on paper, but the question is: is he ready to deliver on what he is asking from India? Can he really pull off what seems to have become a bane of the centre-left and left-wing politicians: a promise of peace when the centre-right and right-wing politicians, along with military establishment, have almost always worked against peaceful relations with our eastern neighbour? And that is just one part of the seemingly unsolvable puzzle. Then there are issues of terrorism, cross-border firing, peace in Kashmir, trade relations and person to person relations. The current bone of contention is a lack of action against the Mumbai incident perpetrators, as per Indian claims. If the Nawaz dispensation works out a solution to this issue, it will really be a breakthrough. However, if there is any evidence of any one being involved in that tragic incident from Pakistani side, the government should initiate proceedings against them under the terrorism laws. Such an action would not only placate India but also rasie our standing as a law abiding state a few notches.

There appears to be goodwill prevailing on both sides at the moment, as is evident from the fact that Pakistan’s High Commissioner was received by the Indian prime minister at his residence where they exchanged warm sentiments and best wishes. There is still light at the end of the tunnel; however, if both the countries don’t act fast, they might not be able to take advantage of the goodwill prevailing on both sides. Islamabad needs to offer New Delhi what it has been seeking for long: justice for its victims of that tragic terror incident, and if Nawaz Sharif can deliver on that, he will be able to herald a new era in friendly relations between the two nuclear states.