Good words are better than bad strokes…
It is no secret that Indo-Pak relations, acrimonious and rocky even at the best of times, have reached their nadir in recent months. For the outside world these repeated acts of hostility and verbal duels between the sub-continental rivals have rightly become an irritant. Military brinkmanship between two nuclear armed neighbours is indeed the stuff of nightmares – though the local chicken hawks might not think so. Track II diplomacy, often a reliable way of breaking the ice when things get too rough between the two, is absent on this occasion. The few voices of sanity on both sides have been temporarily silenced by the charged and emotional atmosphere created by unfortunate events on the ground. Of greatest immediate alarm are the tragic deaths, both of soldiers and civilians, taking place on the Line of Control and the Working Boundary in an undeclared shooting war.
At this grim time, Sartaj Aziz, the Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs – and a close associate – has introduced a note of sanity by conveying his willingness to participate in the Heart of Asia Conference in Amritsar on December 3. If ever a gambit can pull the plug out of the present tensions, it is this bold move, which has come as a pleasant surprise amid the all- enveloping gloom and doom. Dialogue, listening to each other, compromise and interacting in a healthy, meaningful way is the need of the hour. The first step in building or rebuilding, bridges has been taken and it is in India’s and indeed the region’s interest that the latter responds in a similar spirit of goodwill and amity.
The icing on the cake is that since the conference highlights the overall situation in Afghanistan, it would be a good opportunity to mend fences with the western neighbor also with the assistance of China and Turkey. Words, and not blows, are the only answer to the present impasse. It is high time to step back from the brink where all three find themselves.