President Asif Ali Zardari was one of the first few leaders to congratulate the Congress party on its election victory.
The president said he was looking forward to resuming dialogue with India. Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani too congratulated Dr Manmohan Singh after his re-election and stressed the need for peacefully resolving all outstanding issues between the two countries.
Analysts believe Singh’s strengthened mandate after India’s general election frees his hand to better manage ties with Pakistan that have deteriorated since last year’s Mumbai attacks.
Last Wednesday India handed over fresh material evidence to Pakistan, which is being seen as a message to speed up the prosecution of the Mumbai attack plotters.
While there may not be any major peace moves, it is believed that the Indian prime minister could make a limited opening to Pakistan, which includes dropping a travel advisory and reviving people-to people contacts.
Pakistan’s fresh offensive against the Taliban in Swat is also being closely watched by its neighbor and its outcome is expected to affect any consideration of a peace move from the Indian side. Dawn.com invites readers to debate the Congress victory in India and how it augurs for Pakistan. Also, what steps are needed on both sides to revive dialogue and the stalled peace process.
I dont see why pakistani media keeps emphasizing the fact that pakistan has to wait for india to provide an opening to it to be freinds? why apologize? why be so pathetic as a nation? I mean India built 2 dams on our rivers, India has sponsered an insurgency in Balochistan and most of all recent acts of sucide bombings leads to a trial of evidence with emerging proof of their involvement not only with money but manpower and material both? then why does our media keep this feeble pitch and continue to sound like its looking to India to open doors for our country? Pakistan is a resiliant, tough and battle hardened janta….it behooves me that a country of 170 million with a 99% majority that is moderate, a nuclear armed fighting force which spares no effort….can scum to 1.5 billion in annual aid from a super power and play pet and is looking to India to ease her disconnects? forget them, we should be looking up to North Korea..not for what they do but for their ‘determination’ under adverse conditions….yes they are misguided buy but positives in their behavious is the determination to take on superpowers and their pets…at all costs…hopefully sense will prevail and our corrupt leaders will wake up before a buffer zone is created between Afghhanistan and Pakistan for the future oil pipelines….we need to smash through Swat, Smash through this thug called Mehsud no matter how many bombings he unleashes with foreign agencies helping out…reason..we need to secure the area east of teh durrand and tell our pushtun and rush back to the area and populate it for our country….I know for a fact that pashtuns are a proud/dignified and most of all patriotic people…we are proud of you bare with pakistan …..Pakistan ZINDABAD and the army will shed its last drop of blood for you our proud pathans and most of all PATRIORIC PAKISTANIS.
@Kumbhakaran65,
Thankyou for your comments. Allows me to put few things in perspective. Also raises more questions:
1. Why do you insist secularism is a no-no for Pakistan? The idea holds even more weight in light of the fact that it was mooted by the founder.
Any system that is fundamentally (& explicitly so) biased towards a religion/sect will alienate minorities. Secularism is the step leading naturally to a meritocratic society. Saudis have gotten their money without reforming their system of unequal society which I feel is the reason for the current state of affairs.
2. That you were part of RCD once and then the great scheme, going from emulating South Korea to North Korea is tragic. But it means that at some point your rulers/elite saw gains from easy money/security of a military alliance as a better bet for Pakistan over a progressive people.
I am at a loss to see why things turn out this way. Taiwan sought rabid economic progress to establish some leverage with the world vis-a-vis the mainland.
3. Do you have instances of affirmative action in Pakistan? If there was any lesson in 1971, it was this.
I have seen couple of comments like India will attack Pakistan or Secular forces in India wants Pakistan to be merged with India. I think both the theories are wrong.
Reason
1. 1971, Bangladesh. Bangladesh was never merged in India and became a independent state and India/Indians respect Bangladesh’s Sovereignty. So why Pakistanis think that India does not respect Pakistan the same way.
2. India never attacked East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). India got involved only when Muktibahini requested for it. There may be different perspective/versions of the reason.
I am an Indian and I would never want Pakistan to be merged with India and nor do I know any Indian who wish for the same.
Yes, if you people keep on creating trouble in Kashmir, Mumbai and so on then don’t expect favors from India.
Bane or Boon? Only liberal and secular forces will be able to make the difference. Congress back in power is definitely a plus for both India and Pakistan. Pakistan will have to show more acumen in its dealings with India. One should, however, never forget that no party in India, including the Congress can ever forget and forgive the Moghul period.
No matter what party gain control in India or Pakistan, relation between India and Pakistan will remain the same. Status quo situation will be going on forever.
– India wont prefer to capture Pakistan occupied Kashmir because of all mess there.
– Pakistan will not be able to capture Indian held Kashmir by millitary campaign or through proxy war.
– People of Indian held Kashmir want indepedence from India and Pakistan both.
Therefore, People of India and Pakistan should accept Line of Control as a actual international border and solve this problem forever and same money spent on defence. Other problems like Sir Creek and indus water issue can be easily solve by negotiations.
After historical triumph of congress in recent election, Indian leadership should start dialogue with Pakistan to resolve key dispute Kashmir for opening door of prosperity and durable peace in South Asia.
If European countries which waged wars for thousand years against each other and today resolved their key issues why not Pakistan and India which are baby nations after great divide of sub-continent .
Its good omen for people of South Asia that rejected fundamentalists BJB minds and here in our country Pakistan majority of people always rejected fundamentalists and supported liberal and secular parties.
As bigger neighbor India should realize that its not only interest of Indian people for rest of Asia that should resolve our key issues and both countries focused on eradicating poverty and provided better facilities to their respective people .
I remembered that during reign of former PM Nawaz Sharif BJP old leader and former PM Vajpayee visited Lahore and both leaders inked Lahore declaration.
Present PPP led coalition government and major opposition leader Nawaz Sharif and majority of people also wants to cordial relations with India and also wanted that the Kashmir issue should be resolved amicably between two neighbor countries.
We fought wars and learned lesson that war is not solution only meaningful dialogues to resolve issues only option for Pakistan and India.
As big brother Indian leadership should realize that the voice of innocent Kashmir people not be crushed with guns and they never feel comfortable with India because Indian forces brutally crushed their voices and their genuine demand.
Its need of hour that both countries leadership to hold composite dialogues to resolve the Kashmir issue for coming generation and both countries spend their resources on health and education rather making bombs and buying tanks .
We have no choice but to accept the ground realities. For the next five years, we need to confine the activities of our Jihadis within acceptable levels, keep our eastern border quiet, eliminate the menace from within our borders, get the nuclear deal that the French are offering, strengthen our economy and even enter into a trade agreement with india if we can get one on our terms. After five years, it will be another story and we will have every option in dealing with India, Insha’Allah.
Depends on Pakistan’s behavior.
I do not think Pakistan’s anti-India behavior will change unless Nawaz Sharif becomes the Prime Minister with full authority according to the pre-Mush Constitution.
Kamran Ali – like your direct to the point observation/suggestion. Especially on the fact that the over focus towards the east is better for the generals and not for the country.
While I want to congratulate Indian for the smooth transfer of power in an impressive democratic exercise, I can’t help being a little jealous of the strong democratic tradition of India.
I think it is high time we Pakistanis admit that our six decades of Kashmir Jihad and anti-India policies have only helped fatten the pockets of our generals and the elites. In the meantime, India had moved ahead in all spheres. Its economy has been growing at a pace of over 9% and the lot of their people are improving steadily.
We should forget Kashmir and move away from our anti-India focus. We should instead concentrate on the welfare of our own people instead of focusing on failed policies that will only make the generals and the elite even richer and increase the power of the religious fundamentalists. Would any Kashmiri in his right mind want to join us in a failing state? Let us just try to keep what we have and spend our energies and resources for the social well-being of our people, 70% of whom are living in poverty. The wastage of our resources on the military for the last six decades has made our country increasingly poorer forcing us to beg the world for doleouts. Let us admit it, we have failed as a nation.
1-Congress is secular party of India. Congress success is success of Secularism. The peoples of India are fed-up of sectarianism. Politics on the basis of religion and beliefs has been rejected. In the past some religious parties were involved in terrorist activities against minorities of India, especially against Muslims. Congress has been given an-other chance to illuminate the extremism and discrimination from their society. It will bring both countries closer.
2-Pakistan is also fighting against religious terrorists. These terrorists, extremists and fundamentalists are main hurdle between relations of two neighbor countries. Peoples of Pakistan also rejected the religious parties in the last elections. Pakistan is a peace loving country. Pakistan is a democratic country. Real democracy means the government of people elected by the people for the people. It is a system of government where each person has equal basic human rights and equal representation within the government. Although in Pakistan there is not real democracy.It is a controlled democracy and there are some discriminatory laws which should be amended but much better than theocracy or mullaism or talibanization. The present government is a democratic government. So majority of the peoples of Pakistan are standing and supporting the democratic leaders of Pakistan and Pakistan Army against talibanization. Now it is the duty of every democratic country including India to support democratic Pakistan against enemies of democracy and peace. Here I also like to warn the agencies of the some countries that are helping these terrorists that you are helping the enemies of Humanity. If Pakistan Army can not defeat them then our neighbors whose agencies helping these terrorists will be the next target.
3- All disputes between India and Pakistan should be solved by table talks. War is no solution. This is the time to sign a NO WAR PECT between the two countries. Please stop the wars and race of weapons and spend on welfare of the poor peoples of both countries. Peoples want peace, education and health facilities. Convert both states from war states to peace loving welfare states. Start a new era of business, communication and neighborhood.
Ramanan,
I hate to burst your bubble, but the society based on “Hindu Intellectual Traditions” has experienced turmoil for centuries and ruled by foreigners since God knows when. Narender Modi is certainly part of that, But Nehru and his successors were/are definitely not (except for Varun Gandhi).
It is true that Pakistan fell behind when it flirted with religious bigotry, but as you can see, the tide is turning and I am confident that things will start to change for better in near future.
All of the Indian contributors to this forum suggest that the trouble Pakistan is in today is because of Anti-India feelings and we should change our “behavior. Indians are using same tactics as Israelis. Palestinians get killed, abused, deprived of their land, basic necessities, blockaded and still being portrayed in International media as the ones who “Hate”.
I live in United States and have many Indian/Pakistani friends. Pakistanis do not hate Indians. Pakistan does have legitimate grief against India. We do not like to be forcefully deprived of fresh water. We do not want foreign agents fueling internal racial/religious divides. We do not appreciate calculated, persistent and malicious International lobbying against Pakistan. And it definitely hurts us to see 80000 of our Kashmiri brothers getting killed by Non-kashmiri Indian soldiers. You can clearly see the difference between the reactions of Pakistani and Indian people during the 2005 Kashmir earthquake. We clearly see Kashmiri people as our own whereas you don’t and still rule them against their wishes.
Most people in Pakistan are open hearted. When Indian sports teams came to play in Pakistan, the crowd cheered almost as loud on Indian scores as they cheered Pakistani scores. Whereas in India, the people would start throwing insults as well as garbage towards Pakistani players.
Please do not reference attack on Sri Lankan team. That happened during a horrible period in the history of Pakistan, caused by the foolishness of our leaders by becoming a pawn during the cold war for the world domination and then suffering the fall out 25 years later.
I congratulate the people of India for the progress that India is making. I do, however, believe that most Indians are in euphoria and over estimating their progress and grossly underestimating the future of Pakistan.
I dont want Congress to open arms and doors to Pak govt like Vajpayee did with his peace processes so that Pak can gift us another KArgil! Absolutely No! I dont want any people to people contact between the two govt. I want Indian govt to be wary of Pak govt and their moves and not budge even under international pressure. Pak must punish their honored guests of Mumbai attacks and then expect any contact. I am sure Congress wont give away that easy bcos they dont want to loose their new found popularity and give armored gun in the hands of opposition.
the question is who shall benefit with the improved relations:
Out of the two countries, economically speaking, it would be to the huge benefit of pakistan, if ever relationship improves…good relations would open up a huge market(which was indeed the reason for US to shift the strategic focus towards India). Look at China-India. We fought a war and now we have booming businesses. No body cares anymore about Aksaichin etal…
India shall also stand to gain, but not as much as Pakistan. Gains to India shall include reduction in our Pak centric expenditure, markets in pakistan etc etc.
Pakistan needs to tackle fundamentalism. Its not the Taliban which you are fighting, its the mindset. India should not allow BJP and other communal forces to ever come to power. we need our muslims, sikhs and christians as much as our hindus. we have to grow together, not exclusively within India but hopefully with Pakistan.
My suggestion to brothers and sisters of pakistan is: Kashmir cannot be solved by giving away territory by either side. But arent we threatening our own existence by always fighting over kashmir.What have we got?
everyone knows that none of us can use a nuke. threatening to use a nuke or using it as a deterrence is also pretty nonsensical.
we need to mature as people at léeast on Kashmir: Think how difficult it is for 15 crore pakistanis to let go kashmir. Just multiply it 7 times to see the difficulty factor for Indians.
So guys relax and keep prospering.
At this juncture Pakistan finds itself at a disadvantage and it is easy to ‘advise’ and judge. So forgive me if I seem to indulge as I try to express myself.
Common sense (that is not easy to apply) says that it is best for Pakistan (and India) to simple focus inward on nation stabilization (or nation building). Benchmark self from where one is and where one wants to go economically. Forget history and Kashmir till the nation can get back to a more stable keel. Stop blaming the world for the problems thought there may be some truth to it. Being a smaller country, Pakistan can be economically nimbler once it gets out its current predicament.
Given the above and a more stable government in India (by virtue of a larger majority) that is secular and focused on growth, this should ease Pakistan a tad. But the Indians are rightfully a little too self-involved and can do little to affect/effect a more stable Pakistan except probably in perception. At best Indians can be more reconciliatory in posture. But ultimately success or failure as person or a state is in ones own hand.
Is there a better way to look at this given the ground realities of the subcontinent?
It should not matter who is elected in India.
The policies will be same as they had been for the last over 60 years.
Unless the Government as well as people of India accept that Pakistan is here to stay and its destabilization, fragmentation or economic strangulation is not in Idia’s favor, we will have to be cautious in dealing with them.
Bhutto, Zia, Benazir and Musharraf all went out of their way to placate Indians but failed to budge them even an inch from their policies toward Pakistan.
Now we should talk to them only after they show some flexibility.
Pakistan will be well advised to get an influential friend and prosper.So far its friends like China,USA and Saudi Arabia rather than helping Pakistan have pushed it down the road to destruction with pariah status. A Country like an individual must make the right decisions to progress and succeed – blaming Tom,Dick and Harry for our own problems will not be productive.
Indians must also realise that a peaceful and progressive neighbourhood will help it positively. Any country that aspires to be a Global Leader has to set much higher standards for itself. History is like a long and winding road with many forks – taking the wrong road means we lose years if not centuries,in time value. It is for us to shape our future and why keep for tomorrow the job that can be done today.
Firstly it is not surprising that over 75% are contributors in this blog are Indians. Secondly inferring from 1st point – If India claims that they are no threat to Pakistan, then why so much of interest in Pakistan? A typical mentality of being interested in your neighbor rather than your own house. Check any Indian website (Rediff, Indiatimes, Zee News, The Hindu) and you will find at least a news if not two on front page concerning Pakistan, mostly negative.
Let’s talk my experience of living in Dubai for 11 years – intentionally or not almost all Indians are interested in Pakistan and at times they are more aware about what is happening in Pakistan than their own State (I used a word State rather than country as every Indian from North to South is more eager to tell from which State he is from rather than simply saying I am an Indian. In fact they will try to probe you to know from which city of Pakistan you are if you decide to say that I am from Pakistan).
So to all Indian guys – don’t preach Pakistan peace. First keep your house in order. All your neighbors namely – Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, China and Bhutan are fed up of your “fingering “in their domestic issues. Don’t try to become “America” of Subcontinent.
It is amazing rather laughable that almost all contributors are referring Mumbai Attacks rather cross-border terrorism as a main reason for strained relations. As if before that India and Pakistan were lovy-dovies. Since we all have short-term memories, let me remind you that India and Pakistan were never friends since independence. India never accepted Pakistan as sovereign and independent country. This so called cross-border terrorism is comparatively a new phenomenon (hardly 25 years old). In short it is Indian habit of taking (or rather creating) an issue or two and try to maintain a status quo. Remember! Pakistan is and will always remain a trump card for Indian politicians. Any party can play this card as per their convenience to win elections anytime. Strained relations with Pakistan are actually in their favor. Live and let live…
It does not matter if BJP is in power or congress is in power. Only thing now matter most is how we as a voter are benifitted with the economic policies of the new govt.
I don’t think any elected government in India will solve the Kashmir issue which is root cause of two wars between India and Pakistan. Most Indians don’t even mention the Kashmir issue even though UN observers are stationed on the line of control. India maintains at least one million army personnel in a tiny state of Kashmir which tantamount to an occupation. If India really wants better relations with Pakistan it must end the occupation in Kashmir, all other issues are secondary. BJP and congress party both seek support from Israel to formulate its policies toward Pakistan.
one can expect a positive outcome in resumpsion of stalled peace process after congress victory in the neighbour, specially when Manmohan Singh is serving a second term…in this context the only requirement is that India should show a little flexibility in its cooperation with Pakistani authorities towards progressive intelligence sharing and joint coordinated efforts in exterminating the menace of terrorism from both the countries…secondly like a responsible neighubour Indians should leave attaching crude conditions to the resumption of dialogue process such as their new foreign minister did after taking oath that “:we are ready to go ahead IF out neighbour put an end to supporting terror elements form its land..”
The leadership is same, leaders are same, there is no change in India.
The leadership is change, but the leader’s mentality is same, there is no change in Pakistan too.
So how can we expect any change in the relation between India and Pakistan?
Few years ago I came across an interesting statement by a Indian Muslim thinker on Kashmir. he said if Kashmir becomes independent or goes to Pakistan then there will be big riots all over India. the population of Muslims in India is more than the population of Pakistan and hence why is pakistan obssessed with Kashmir ..why can’t they leave it alone ??
I am a proud Indian Muslim. I am proud of My country India, its pluralism, democracy, and respect for human equality and dignity.
Until Pakistani society understands their own mistakes and changes their school curriculum, India need not waste time improving relation but some how manage time in status.
Any country with a stable government helps to tackle problems more effectively. A secular and stronger government at the center is a better prospect for resuming the talks.
Without being biased, i still feel Pakistan Govt had an opportunity to strenghthen the ties wit india if they would have swiftly worked towards punishing those responsible for Mumbai attacks. When the entire world knew that where the attackers came from , the pakistan govt still kept denying which didnot help the cause much.Talibanisation of pakistan could have been avoided but the govt acted only after it was badly in need of funds and USA & UK conditionalized the flow of money only if Taliban was stopped.
I feel strongly that the pakistan govt decisions are influenced by some elements which hinder the peace process and want to run the country on the basis of religion not economics.
I live in Jamaica and some of the good freinds I have are from pakistan.I am convinced that the common people in pakistan belive in better relations with india and are more worried about their jobs, better economic conditions, infrastructure development, eductaion etc rather than the religious war. Islam is a great religion and I hope the pakistan govt doesnot allow few people to change its fundamentals.