Indo-Pak Relations: Need for greater Patience and Resilience

The gruesome situation in which India and Pakistan were created in the year 1947 and the wars and conflicts that have followed to this date, have drawn sharp reactions and over-reactions on both sides of the border. Much of the allegations and criticisms linger around the overall genuineness of the conduct of successive governments with regard to their cross-border policy. It is true that Pakistan has snubbed the sanctity of India’s border on several occasions, and it is true that anti-India sentiments are being fuelled through extremism and terrorism, we must not forget that there is a significant section of right-wing extremism in India, which has often been instrumental in provoking anti-Pakistan gushes, thereby fuelling Islamic fundamentalism against India. This appropriately appears to be a vicious circle with perhaps no way out except that when both nations adopt the middle- path for interaction with each other. This would certainly require greater role from India’s end in making an effort towards mitigating the tensions. This is in reality an affirmation of the Gujral Doctrine that guides India’s conduct in its foreign policy in South Asia, especially with regard to Pakistan that India should give unilateral concessions and be more generous in its dealings.

Some prevailing minority views in India such as Pakistan was born to decline, Pakistan is a ‘toxic’ jelly state, unstable and fuelling terror into India, Pakistan’s existence is flawed, and so on, is actually detrimental to the interests of India and to the interests of the innocent civilians on both sides of the border. Unless facets of ultra-nationalism must are curbed at the earliest, there would be no way to come out of the vicious circle, and that conflict, violence, hatred and bloodshed would only continue, which India is not in favour of. What must be understood is that since it has been sixty six years of occupying a place on the world map, Pakistan would continue to remain a sovereign country, and by virtue of being its neighbour, India must make all efforts to engage in the dialogue processes and lead a way for peaceful settlement of all disputes. Narrow views such as Pakistan being an existential threat to India and making a mockery of Pakistan’s domestic problems and economic underdevelopment would only provoke the hardliners in that country to spread the culture of violence in the name of religion against the Hindu-dominated India.
Abiding by Mahatma Gandhi’s principle that violence only breeds violence and hatred only breeds hatred, by virtue of being at a better socio-economic standing it is important for India to practise humility and generosity with respect to Pakistan else the latter’s domestic problems would have dangerous spill-over effects on India. The overriding hypothesis that a prosperous and stable Pakistan is a pre-requisite for India’s socio-economic growth can be
affirmed keeping in view India’s rising defence budget mainly pointed towards its northwestern frontiers. While harping on the merits of tolerance, pluralism, democracy and diversity, it would be disadvantageous for India to fall into the trap of baseless arguments of ridiculing Pakistan for its woeful situation and garnishing it in the name of religion, especially when India has bigger aspirations of being a global power and playing a leadership role in promoting the culture of unity in diversity across societies.

(The author is a Ph.D scholar in the American Studies Program at the Centre for Canadian, United States and Latin American Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and can be reached at simi@manavdhara.org).