Cooperation the only way forward, says Tharoor

India is genuinely committed to peaceful relations with Pakistan, which is why Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had embarked on yet another round of peace talks, Dr Shashi Tharoor, Member of Lok Sabha and former Indian minister of state for external affairs, said in Islamabad on Thusrday. Dr Tharoor was speaking at a policy discussion seminar titled “India and Pakistan: Cooperation or Conflict?” organised by the Jinnah Institute. Tharoor said Pakistan defined itself in opposition to India and while this had coloured India’s perception of bilateral issues, cooperation was the only way forward.
He asserted that Pakistanis interested in peace and regional security would definitely find willing partners in India.
Tharoor, who was the United Nations’ under-secretary general for communications and public information from 1996 to 2007 and currently represents the constituency of Thiruvananthapuram in the Lok Sabha, argued that terrorists were able to use the instruments of globalisation to drive India and Pakistan apart.
“Previously benign forces of religion and culture have become causes of conflict,” he said. Tharoor welcomed the fact that President Zardari had been pushing for trade links with India, because it reflected how important it was for Pakistan to normalise relations with India. However, he said civilian initiatives by Pakistan were unlikely to take off because of the strategic view of the Pakistani military. Tharoor is the first among the Jinnah Institute’s distinguished speakers as part of its ongoing Indo-Pakistan Track-II engagement termed the Chaophraya Dialogue.
JI has partnered with the Australia India Institute (AII) for the Chaophraya Dialogue and plans multiple interactions between policy experts and audiences on both sides of the border.
Tharoor’s talk was preceded by opening remarks made by Aziz Ahmed Khan, honourary vice president of Jinnah Institute and a former ambassador, who said it was definitely possible to promote a better understanding between Pakistan and India through dialogue. Ejaz Haider, executive director of Jinnah Institute, said focusing simply on Pakistan’s actions and reactions was likely to miss the point. He argued that India and Pakistan had remained locked in a conflictual paradigm and one needed to understand the dialectics of the relationship to get the full picture.