Friendly overtures and doomsday enactments

The peace initiative travels to Delhi to return with bouquets and good wishes

It is said that “it isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it”.

Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit said: “The more we sweat in peace, the less we bleed in war”.

I cannot quite fathom the words that would appropriately describe the futility of war particularly among two neighbouring countries whose leaderships are vested with the power and opportunity to shape the destiny of over 1.5 billion people who, for much too long, have languished in the realm of poverty and deprivation. Hope is a vanquished dream for them because, ever so often, they find themselves confronting yet another prospect of conflict. They cannot be deserted to wither any further in this dreadful cycle of internecine conflict.

Peace remains a cherished dream, but it is also a reality that cannot be shirked, that cannot be consigned to the back-burner to be tackled when there would be time to do so. It should be absolutely the first priority for leaderships of both countries which, unfortunately, it does not appear to be at this critical juncture. As a matter of fact, some key interactions that were envisaged to have taken place between the representatives of Pakistan and India have been cancelled, thus leaving a vacuum that is likely to generate more acrimony.

Peace remains a cherished dream, but it is also a reality that cannot be shirked, that cannot be consigned to the back-burner to be tackled when there would be time to do so. It should be absolutely the first priority for leaderships of both countries which, unfortunately, it does not appear to be at this critical juncture. As a matter of fact, some key interactions that were envisaged to have taken place between the representatives of Pakistan and India have been cancelled, thus leaving a vacuum that is likely to generate more acrimony

It is in times of conflict that peace is more relevant. It is in times of upheaval that the thought of placid waters is more soothing. Pakistan and India are passing through such times as their people look up to their leaderships to give them hope and create for them opportunities and avenues for progress in life in sync with the rest of the civilised world. They cannot do so if uncertainty persists. They cannot do so if the clouds of war keep casting shades of dark over their future. They need to break free of the shackles of conflict and embrace the dream of peace. This is the moment. This is the moment for the leaderships of the two countries to get down to initiating an earnest effort to bury the past and open a new page in the history of their neighbourly conduct.

In this context, the peace visit to Delhi was full of surprises of the pleasant variety. The second round of the Regional Peace Institute (RPI) Pakistan-India Bilateral Dialogue was held in the Indian capital over two days that witnessed some incisive inputs into the stalled and often acrimonious relationship between the two neighbouring countries.

The 16-member delegation travelling from Pakistan included some notable stalwarts from the political, economic, academic, social and media sectors. The Indian delegation was equally multidimensional comprising luminaries representing a vast array of interests. There were the old and the new, the experienced and the not-so-experienced on both sides, thus bringing forth the relative pessimism of the ones who have been involved in such rounds in the past, and the bold and contagious optimism of the young who harbour hope for a future that every Indian and Pakistani dreams of.

Under the umbrella theme of “Moving Beyond Conflict: Dynamics Impacting Pakistan-India Relations”, there were four sessions held over two days to discuss the political and security dimensions, trade, investment and economic cooperation, social sector, poverty alleviation, human resource development and the magic of soft power vide media, films, tourism and people-to-people contacts. The Joint Declaration (JD) released at the conclusion of the conference encapsulated the main features and recommendations of the interaction.

It is in times of conflict that peace is more relevant. It is in times of upheaval that the thought of placid waters is more soothing. Pakistan and India are passing through such times as their people look up to their leaderships to give them hope and create for them opportunities and avenues for progress in life in sync with the rest of the civilised world. They cannot do so if uncertainty persists. They cannot do so if the clouds of war keep casting shades of dark over their future. They need to break free of the shackles of conflict and embrace the dream of peace. This is the moment. This is the moment for the leaderships of the two countries to get down to initiating an earnest effort to bury the past and open a new page in the history of their neighbourly conduct

There was a frank, cordial and constructive discussion regarding all issues that have traditionally plagued the relations between the two neighbouring countries. The delegates also noted with concern “the lack of progress made since the first round of the RPI’s Pakistan-India Bilateral Dialogue that took place in Islamabad on June 14, 2014”.

The delegates reiterated the desirability, indeed, the imperative need, of peace between the two countries.

They reiterated their resolve to “spread the message of peace and normalisation of bilateral relations among a larger cross-section of people on both sides of the border. Public awareness should be urgently raised about the need for creating a critical mass of societal and political consensus on tackling all the outstanding tension-generating issues between India and Pakistan”.

The delegates noted with concern that “the encouraging meeting between the prime ministers of the two countries at the time of Mr Narendra Modi’s inaugural in New Delhi in May 2014 has not been followed up by efforts to move forward on the normalisation process. On the contrary, the envisaged meeting between the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan got cancelled”.

The Joint Declaration further stated that “India and Pakistan should not remain hostage to their history of conflict. Rather, they should become a beacon of hope for the entire South-Asian region by making a genuine effort to move beyond conflict”.

The presentations spoke of a future that hinges on the prospect of collaboration and cooperation between India and Pakistan to the advantage of the whole region. There was a consensus that the future of South-Asia, for too long, has remained hostage to the India-Pakistan rivalry and that this cannot be allowed to proceed indefinitely. The presenters from both sides spoke of the desirability of the two countries making endeavours to accelerate progress on various sectors simultaneously and not allowing progress in one sector to remain stalled because of lack of it in another.

The presentations spoke of a future that hinges on the prospect of collaboration and cooperation between India and Pakistan to the advantage of the whole region. There was a consensus that the future of South-Asia, for too long, has remained hostage to the India-Pakistan rivalry and that this cannot be allowed to proceed indefinitely. The presenters from both sides spoke of the desirability of the two countries making endeavours to accelerate progress on various sectors simultaneously and not allowing progress in one sector to remain stalled because of lack of it in another

Some of the notable recommendations included the following:

1. The prime ministers of India and Pakistan should not miss the opportunity for a much-anticipated resumption of bilateral talks on the sidelines of the SAARC Summit in Kathmandu on November 26-27, 2014.

2. The ice-breaking in Kathmandu should be followed by early summit-level talks between the two prime ministers, either in New Delhi or Islamabad, with a well-planned and comprehensive agenda. The components of such an agenda are already in place in the several bilateral agreements, declarations and joint statements concluded by the two countries. What is needed is strong political will on both sides, and a determination to resolve all outstanding issues, including Kashmir and cross-border terrorism.

3. As agreed to by the two governments in 2005, the dialogue between India and Pakistan should have an irreversible character. It should not be interrupted by differences or unpleasant developments. Experience has shown that tensions have significantly lowered whenever dialogue has continued in an uninterrupted manner.

4. The people of the two countries have entrusted their respective governments with the responsibility of normalisation of relations. Moreover, the two governments also owe this to the people of other SAARC countries. It is unfortunate that the continuing India-Pakistan gridlock has enormously slowed the realisation of the Vision of SAARC. Therefore, India and Pakistan must achieve significant progress before SAARC celebrates its 30^th anniversary next year.

The SAARC summit conference disappointment is already there. The two prime ministers could not meet formally on the sidelines of the conference. As a matter of fact, their respective body language spoke volumes of the tensions that characterise the current relationship between the two countries. Much against anticipation, there was little interest shown by either side to break the ice. The Pakistani prime minister, before boarding the plane to Kathmandu, came out with a customary bloomer that, though Pakistan desired negotiations with India, the latter will have to take the initiative in that direction. I fail to understand the relevance of such a statement on the eve of leaving for a critical meeting of the SAARC countries: how can one party to the conflict absolve itself of the responsibility of continuing to work for the cause of peace? The Pakistani side could have easily opted for sharing these sentiments, if at all, with their Indian counterparts in a private meeting rather than spelling these out in public, thus putting a jammer in the works.

On a people-to-people level, there is little that one can find by way of a lack of desirability for the two countries to take to the road that would lead to peace. It is only when we move up the ladder that we come across innumerable and undesirable ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ to the relationship. May be, it is time for the two leaderships to put their heads together, eliminate all question marks and initiate the process of an irreversible dialogue to translate this abiding dream into reality. Let there be no provisos, let there be no pretensions to hegemony!

Two other recommendations of the conference are noteworthy to be reproduced here:

1. For a subcontinent that has a rich spiritual and civilisational heritage, it is a source of concern and discredit that India and Pakistan, and South Asia in general, have the largest concentration of poor people with multiple deprivations. Poverty alleviation must become the highest priority of our two countries. Precisely for this reason, India and Pakistan should increase to the maximum extent possible our expenditure on accelerating socio-economic development and improving the living standards of our common people.

2. The security of our two countries can be greatly enhanced by reducing the trust deficit. This can be achieved by expanding the people-to-people connectivity in multiple other sectors – education, healthcare, culture, cinema, music, literature, tourism, scientific research, technological innovation, and disaster management. There is an urgent need, especially, to increase constructive cooperation in social sector development and human resource enrichment by learning from and replicating best practices and success stories. This would further expand and strengthen the constituency of peace. To promote trust and understanding, India and Pakistan should appoint some Goodwill Ambassadors from the civil society, particularly artists, actors, writers and sportspersons.

On a people-to-people level, there is little that one can find by way of a lack of desirability for the two countries to take to the road that would lead to peace. It is only when we move up the ladder that we come across innumerable and undesirable ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ to the relationship. May be, it is time for the two leaderships to put their heads together, eliminate all question marks and initiate the process of an irreversible dialogue to translate this abiding dream into reality. Let there be no provisos, let there be no pretensions to hegemony!