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.
Election of Congress is a clear message to Pakistan and world common Indians more secular and concerned more of their economic development than religion/cast etc,
We are going thru changing phase and leaders of all nation should learn regligion/vilonance will not achive any good,
Pakistanies should learn lesson from their own history and stop supporting any form hatered.
Pakistani leaders must be proactive in capturing terrorist operating in their land and demonstrate to the world they are serious about establishing peace, they should stop taking orders from US, but do everything for their own interest,
Kashmir is not a problem, Britishers/westeners created this issue only to see us fighting (divide and rule), leaders of Pakistan only exploited their own people on Kashmir issue and avoided any real economical progress,
here is message to all liberal Pakistanies, insist your government to find Dawood Ibrahim, eliminate Lashkar-e-Thoiba and other terrorist groups and you should should do this without any outside pressure
For India it is essential that all the countries around India are doing good. Whether it is Nepal,Bangla Desh, Sri Lanka or Pakistan.It is worrisome when all these countries having problem. India tried to sign agreement in Simla and then again in Lahor. At Lahore then Chief of Pakistan Army refused to salute Atal Bihari Bajpai and then attacked Cargil Pakistan Armies thinking that India is enemy one to be changed.There are progress in opening broder,Transit facilities etc.Both have to be sincere in their efforts.The biggest problem in Pakistan that the government is not telling the truth to their people. Whether it is Mumbai attack,or Daud or plane hijacking. They have to educate their masses both side.
Congratulations to the people of India. The hard work of the Nehru dynasty has paid off. Majority rejected Hindu extremism and caste based politics. Thanks to the Internet and mobile phones, the people of the world’s strongest and the world’s largest democracies rejected religious and racial divides. Alternatives to Barack Hussein Obama and Dr. Manmohan Singh would have cost this plant a lot more destruction and misery. Do not forget that historically India has suffered tremendously because of religious extremism and caste based system. I think they have learned.
From Muhammad Ali Jinnah to Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan have come a long way in 62 years . Please pray that we learn too!
what will we get keeping good relation with Pakistan? we started peace process during Mr.Bajpayee and got the kargil war. If you want to continue peace process, then you have to think with whom u sud talk whether the political parties or USA or Taliban or with sacked chief justice.better we sud keep our mind engaged in our economy and try to keep it in track..
the day pakistan stops all hostile activities against india ,
there will be certain change in indian attitude towards pakistan.
sooner or later , every now and then some evidence
of pak indulging in anti india activities crops up..
this becomes very disturbing for common indian .
for the people of pakistan it is very important for them to pursue your govt. to stop all hostilites
we in india want to see pak grow economically and socially for better stability in the reiegon
There are certain misgivings in the mind of the people of Pakistan regarding India. India is a large multiracial/cultural democracy. Its political system albeit with its faults still functions. Indian people only remember partition as a bad dream and they also know there is no come back on this subject. It’s best forgotten. India also never had Pakistan as an agenda like various Pakistani governments had and did exhort its public towards fostering certain hatred towards India. The India public is too large and diversified to be motivated to a single point agenda like Pakistan.
There lies India’s strength. As a nation we are more economically inclined, we understand prosperity lies in economic progress and not in the destruction of Pakistan as is some times propagated by hardline thinkers across the border in Pakistan. Ask an Indian and he will tell you that he would rather see a stable Pakistan that is friendly towards India. We are not for war, nor of the bifurcation of Pakistan. Bangladesh came about due to the feudalistic nature of politics and intolerance in West Pakistan towards its other half.
All Indian governments understand that the path forward lies in mutual trust and peace with Pakistan. Even Vajpayee (read BJP) went to Pakistan with a peace branch that was brutally burnt on the slopes of Kargil. We wanted peace. An anti India policy has only ended up hurting Pakistan. See what is happening in Pakistan – making India bleed by a thousand cuts has only made Pakistan bleed. India is a large country and can absorb a lot of shocks and has been doing so. We don’t use Aircraft, gunships, artillery and tanks to fight our insurgencies like you do. We are patient and work on political agendas.
It’s for Pakistan to reach out to India and for the people of Pakistan to foster a real democracy in Pakistan to pave a way for progress to begin in Pakistan. India can only help you in that direction and would like to be friends with the people of Pakistan.
This is what I propose—an United States of South Asia. In this union, each unit would have full control of all fubctions other than Finance, Defence and Foergin Relations. This union would work like USA. It can be started with India and Pakistan and expanded with membership open to Nepal,Bangaladesh,Sri Lanka and possibly Afganisthan. It would be the largest country in the world and major contributor of talent technology and menpower
(womenpower) to the betterment of the world. Ties of common ansestry
and ethos of multiculturisum and tolerance would make the world a better place.
I don’t think it will have any impact on India-Pakistan realtionship.The major stumbling block is the lack of sincerity on part of Pakistan to handover the masterminds/perpatrators of 26/11 to india since the scene of crime is in india.Terrorism is biggest issue between india and Pakistan from my perspective no matter who comes to Power in New delhi.
@Kumbhakaran65,
You started off by quoting right, but then it got muddy to the point where you ended up advocating communalists in power in India. They have brought us death of the Mahatma & Babri Masjid which has seen dastardly reprisals over time. In any case the results of these elections should make a strong case against communalists any which way.
I will trade them for a secular government anyday even if it is perceived as blunt. At least the aam aadmi gets to live and pursue his dreams.
You folks should be focussing more on your own progress. Why cant you become the South Korea or Japan of South Asia? Instead of being locked in this perpetual existential question vis-a-vis India. Pakistan has existed for more than half a century and should carry on being a sovereign by force of inertia if nothing else. If you want to be heard by the top dogs in the world you only have to embrace money collectively as a people.
I read the article of Mr Kayenn from India. I found it quite real. Pakistan should sincerely punish the culprits of mumbai attacks and must show India that we are more serious than them. It will be a big step also to show the world that terrorists can be defeated. And then ball will be in India’s court. We need good education, improve our society specially for the women. I feel that if Germany, France and England with their common borders can live peacefully and can become super powers, then why not WE ?
I don’t think there will a shift in India’s foreign policy regarding Pakistan which was also endorsed by Pranab Mukerjee. Many in India want to see a change in Pakistan’s policy towards India. I think Pakistan will be the most profitable in terms of economy and stability having a good and healthy relationship with India.
Any successful democratic process in the region is a boon to Pakistan if it helps the public restore their belief in the importance of evolution of a peoples system. Too many Pakistani public are tolerant to dictatorships with the hope that the dictator will solve their short term problems more efficiently than a messy and corrupt democracy. Most times they perceive that the problem with the nation is that their democratic leader does not stand up to India enough. When power grabbers like Mushraff commit national blunders like Kargil to show that he is willing to stand up to India, people clap and they tolerate him. Then he mangles the constitution to stay in power and Pakistan looses its constitution structure critical for any country to rule itself effectively.
Congress or no congress the foreign policy of India will remain same as can be seen over a period of so many years. It shifts starategically depending upon the need of time. This is because of the democratic traditions of India. any party which seems to be biased would not be able to push its agenda through – look at what haooened to Advani and his team.
The only suggestion which I can give to my friends in Pakistan is that please show sincerity and truthfulness for its policy towarda India. Please do not live in denial. Their population did not vote for extermism. They voted for good governence which the elected representative did not give them by signing the peace treaty with terrorists
Please change education system which preaches hatred towards India. Please punish terrorists which attacked Mumbai on 26/11. You will see the people of India forcing its leaders to change its policy towards pakistan.
I don’t say that everythingh India does is good, no it is not but than we have the power of people to change the government. How can have a Sikh as PM, Christian as leader of Congress, a vice president who is a Muslim in a country which is predominently Hindu …….
Comparing to other political parties, Indians this time again choose to install Congress, which means that majority of the Indians are liberal minded and would like Congress to continue to work for the betterment of the Indian people as well as for the South Asian Region.
Two times elected Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh during his last election campaign said that nearly two years ago, India was very close of finalizing the proposal of settling Kashmir issue with Pakistan but when General (R) Pervez Musharraf dismissed Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, he could not pursue the proposal.
Congress has again given the chance to Dr. Manmohan Singh and yesterday he took oath for the second time and became Prime Minister of India. Dr. Manmohan Singh being an economist is also a visionary and has the potential to solve the issues which are lying pending since 62 years between Pakistan and India.
People of Pakistan are confidant that if Indian Congress Party (ICP) take the initiative with Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), both the political parties having peoples mandate in two neighbouring countries can resolve all pending disputes, including the dispute of Kashmir.
As far as Taliban issue is concerned, I don’t think that it would take long time for Pakistan Army to overcome a small group of fanatics. I am optimistic that peace process between Pakistan and India should resume at an early date.
As the world is going through the global economic crunch, I am sure that both Pakistan and India would hammer out the issues, one after another, for the sake of the people of two countries, as well as for common economic benefit, which has not been explored, due to one main reason that fanatics of both the countries does not want that Pakistan and India should progress and prosper.
Indira Gandhi’s famous quote:
“The best argument against Pakistan is a secure prosperous and educated Indian Muslim..” This argument has not become a reality yet and nor is it likely to be. But the secularists and the current Indian government do believe this and the struggle for India’s identity between the secularists and the fundamentalists continues.
There is peculiar irony about secular moderate governments in India vs the rabid Hindu fundamentalists. Its a Hobson’s choice at best so far as Pakistan is concerned.
Secular governments bring in stability and internal security in India and offer protection to Indian Muslims and Christians. However secularists in India have never accepted Partition and view the establishment of Pakistan as a colonial plot and a catastrophe. The very existence of Pakistan makes functioning of a secular government in India very difficult if not impossible, because the secularists are always under attack from the Hindu religious fundamentalists who cite “appeasement ” of Indian Muslims and a soft policy towards Pakistan. The eternal question which Hindu fundamentalists ask the secularists is that if Pakistan was the homeland for the Indian Muslims what are the Muslims doing in India. The response of the secularists is that Pakistan is an aberration and should not have happened, and the secular forces in India should seek to re-integrate Pakistan back into India with a secular agenda so that the Punjabi, Baluchis, Pathans, and Sindhis are assured of their religious and cultural identities. Every secular government in India seeks to undermine the Pakistani state by fostering links with ethnic nationalists and secessionists. Secularists see ethnic nationalism as an antidote to religious fundamentalism and the hope is that if Pakistan can be broken-up into its constituent states these states can eventually either re-integrate into a secular India or remain as friendly protectorates like Bhutan. Once freed of the external threat the secularists can tackle the Hindu communal forces in India and return India to its pluralistic and multi-cultural identity with a strong Muslim entity. This would make India a real super-power dominating the Middle East and South Asia.
On the other hand the Hindu fundamentalists have a far more limited agenda so far as Pakistan is concerned. For them Pakistan with its Muslim majority areas was a cancer that was surgically removed by a colonial power, which has allowed the development of a “Hindu” culture and mindset in India. It was good riddance so far as the Hindu fundamentalists were concerned. The question of the residual Indian Muslim population remains but that can easily be dealt with by a policy of dis-enfranchisement, organized pogroms, economic deprivation which will result in establishment of another sect of untouchables in the Hindu caste hierarchy. So far as Pakistan is concerned India’s military might will ensure that Pakistan’s sympathies towards the Indian Muslims will remain silent, and any vocal protest will be silenced by showing a mailed fist. For the Hindu fundamentalists the survival of Pakistan means their survival within India.
So I guess we Pakistanis should encourage the communal forces in India.
The time-bomb on the Indo-Pak border is not the Line of Control. It has nothing to do with partisan politics or religion.
It’s an explosive mix of skyrocketing population and vanishing fresh water.
The government change or no change in India will not alter fundamental nature of the relations between India and Pakistan.
President Zaradri would have sounded more sincere when he said he doesn’t see India as enemy, if he had tried to put an end to hostile acts agaisnt India.
Having said that, India and Pakistan are neighbours and we cannot wish each other away. The Indo-Pak relations have to be managed from slipping into outright war, which doesn’t make sense for both country.
The best way to do that is to minimize the interactions with each other and not to cross each other’s path. In other words, mind each other’s business.
Pakistan should take its hands off from Kashmir, turn LoC into international border and stop supporting groups waging wars against India with logistics and arms.
Once Pakistan does that, India has no reason to interfere in Pakistan.
There are enough reasons and history to be cynical about relations between India & Pakistan .Authors have written volumes about it. If we keep on repeating same we can overload this blog but would not reach any where.
There is only one reason to be different that is we want better future for our future generations and poor people of this continent.
There are times and oppotunities in History when a change can be effected . This victory of Congress is one such opportunity. I hope wise people of this continent will not miss this opportuniy
To make faster the peace process, Pakistan have to put behind bars at the earliest, the culprits who did the Mumbai carnage, ofcourse if India gives them sufficient proof. It will be a clap on the faces who wants to creat the hindrances between the friendship of these ocuntries. This is the best step to we may take for the betterment of both the countries. Both countries need each other. Enhance, Pakistan need more India than India need Pakistan.
Victory of congress in India is very good both for India, Pakistan and Indo Pak relations. What is important is congress has won enough seats to to make decicions without pressure of allies & opposition. All Indian knows in their heart of heart that a good relations with all its neighbours particularly Pakistan are very important for peace in continent without which there can not be a lasting peace in India itself. Indian also knows and understands that it always bigger party to be more magnimonous to improve relation beetween two parties.I think this wisdom is part of shared culture beetween India and Pakistan. Congres with its present victory have an opportunity to act on this wisdom.
I always wonder that if Europian countries who fought each other so ferociously in First and Second world wars killing millions of each other nationals ,virtouly destroying each other can again join together why not India $ Pakistan. This is the only salvation for millions of poors in India and Pakistan. I hope Congres with its victory & wisdom will sieze this opportunity to give abrighter future for the poor people of this continent
Congress party gains are a surprise to the party itself. A secular, inclusive and stable government in formation reflecting, on the whole, liberal views and opinions, should auger well for improving relations with Pakistan.
I do firmly believe, leaving aside the fringe, your avearge Indian is, or ever has been, anti Pakistani people. A Pakistani person is seen by an Indian as a member of an extended family. In fact, as members of the same gene pool sharing the common customs, culture, heritage, history and yes, religion.
Contrary to general belief, Islam is not what makes a Pakistani different to an Indian. It is, indeed, this misunderstanding that is responsible for the falsely held belief on both sides that the difference is irreconcilable. Add to this the unnatural political boundary defended by vested self interests which thrives on such propaganda.
India, and to a lesser extent Pakistan, are both plural, diverse, tolerant societies, by and large, which provides little scope for intolerance to differences. And yet, surprisingly, the silent majority on both sides appear incapacitated to reach across the artificial divide and call time on the forces of division.
23 May 2009
We have been trying to solve are problems with India diplomatically for a while now. What do we get for that confidence building measures, which are delaying tactics. Which I believe the Indians want so that it might be easier to HANDLE Pakistan as it becomes weaker ecnomically. Water terrorism, another example of how we are pressurised by curtailing the water supply of a nation whose economy is agriculture based. Interference and funding of separatists in Balochistan. Indian build up in Afghanistan and funding terrorism.
At this point I do not see any chance of peace with India. No matter who is in charge over there.
There won’t be any change with Indian leadership. The fact is change should be from Pakistan end; change in strategy. Unless Pakistan leaves their cross border terror support; any change in either side will be temporary. That is fact…
sir,
India will be tough to deal with after this victory of the congress. India will now grow faster and improve economically. India also will not talk to Pakistan unless we handover the culprits of Mumbai massacare to them or try and punish them. If incidents like Mumbai attack were to repeat, things would worsen for us. If we were to punish the culprits -India will restore normallcy very fast and trade and commerce can more than double in short period. With the action taken on SWAT valley we should be able to appear fair in our action against mumbai attackers and that should restore normalcy with India