INDO – PAKISTAN RELATIONS

I.K. Gujral on Gujral Doctrine

"Gujral Doctrine" is: no interference in internal affairs. Full respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity Not allowing Indian territory to be used against any of the neighbours, and resolving any dispute through bilateral discussions. The Ganga Water Treaty is the most outstanding example of what we should do. It has generated an internal debate, an inner. Churning in Bangladesh. People there, especially captains of trade and industry are demanding that their country should open up now that they have got Ganga water.

We are getting closer to ASEAN not only bilaterally, but as SAARC also, I would like to promote collective regional cooperation. I shall take it up at the next SAARC meeting, now that India is the chairman. We should have regional ties with the European Union, APEC and others too. (As for) Pakistan the doctrine says we ignore needless provocations. We do not respond to propaganda on issues like Kashmir. Let them say what they want. We do not need certificates from the world community, which has seen how we conducted the elections in Kashmir. The intrusion of pilotless aircraft is something we can deal with at the military level. But there is need to talk. We are ready, but they must cover economic, cultural and other ties.

Talks will resume if and when the (Pakistan) establishment will decide. Ties with Nepal and Bhutan are also looking up particularly in areas where it had been difficult before. The Mahakali Treaty has been ratified by the Nepalese Parliament with two-thirds majority. The surveys have commenced. In the forthcoming annual budget, the government will seek to allocate a part of the funds India is committed to spend.

With Bhutan also, preliminary talks have taken begun for a water-power arrangement. We hope to get power from Bhutan by .the end of the century. Earlier estimate was for 4,000 MGW, but. It has since been revised to 6,000 MGW. This will ease our power problem. This is besides the waters from Sankosh. River for the Farakka Barrage that will help both India and Bangladesh. 

US Senate: US Relations with India and Pakistan

Sen. Grams: There is a strong interest in the U.S.developing a more comprehensive policy for this volatile (South Asian) region. One of the obvious concerns is the increasing tensions between Pakistan and India, and especially given the fact that the arms proliferation and the nuclear capabilities in both of those countries.

Second, a greater stability in South Asia would be beneficial to American businesses. It is an area of potential economic growth. Do you think the U.S. Should become more involved in helping Pakistan and India resume negotiations and find solutions to their disputes? And if so, how would you approach that?

Secretary of State (Designate) Albright: The whole issue of the subcontinent and Indo-Pakistani relations are obviously of great importance to us, given their importance intrinsically as countries, plus (those which have) to do with the nuclear proliferation issues. We have, in fact, worked to try to get the two of them to talk to each other, and I think we need to pursue that further.

I think I will be looking at that very closely. Clearly the issue of Indo-Pakistani relations specifically and with nuclear proliferation as one of the issues is of great importance to us.

The Radiance on the Demise of The Two-Nation Theory on Partition

The emergence of Bangladesh as an independent country is being described in the whole country as the last nail in the coffin of the two-nation theory. The two-nation theory is, no doubt, dead. As for the claim that Hindus and Muslims could not form a single nation, it was falsified on the very first day when the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan met and M.A. Jinnah declared that "Hindus will cease to be Hindus and Muslims will cease to be Muslims" in the political sense, in Pakistan. Ever since no Pakistani leader has claimed that the Hindus and Muslims of Pakistan were two different nations, because that would clearly imply that Pakistan was a multi-national State. Nor did anyone of them claim that there were two nations, viz. Hindu and Muslims, in the Indian Union. It was universally agreed that all the citizens of a sovereign State belong to a single nation.                                                                                                 

Benazir Bhutto On Emergence of Bangladesh 

The democratic mandate for Pakistan had been grossly violated. The majority province of East Pakistan was basically being treated as a colony by the minority west. From revenues of more than thirty-one billion rupees from East Pakistan's exports, the minority in West Pakistan had built roads. Schools. Universities and hospitals for themselves, but had developed little in the East. The army, the largest employer in our very poor country, drew 90% of its forces from West Pakistan. 80% of government jobs were filled by people from the West. The central government had even declared Urdu our national language, .a language few in East Pakistan understood, thus further handicapping the Bengalis in competing for jobs in government or education. No wonder they felt excluded and exploited.

Indo-Pakistan Relations: The Herald's Opinion Poll

* Do you think Muslims of the subcontinent are better off now than before Partition?

Before                            42%

After                               56%

In Karachi, a city with a large Mohajir population, the general feeling is that Muslims are much worse-off.

* Do you think Jinnah intended Pakistan to be a religious state or a modern democracy?

Religious                        52 %

Democratic                     47%

Pakistanis have clearly still not been able to define the nature of their state though those who believe Pakistan was created as a religious state are in a slim majority.

* Do you think Mujibur Rehman and India were primarily responsible for the creation of Bangladesh, or was it the West Pakistan politicians and the Army?

Mujib and India               41 %

Politicians/Army              47%

The results should surprise the military establishment which likes to foster the other point of view.

* Do you think Pakistan should accept the Line of Control as an international border, making Azad Kashmir an official part of Pakistan and Indian-held Kashmir a part of India?

No                                      77%

Yes                                     21%

As one travels north, the strength of feeling about any compromise over the Kashmir issue seems to rise

* Do you think Kashmir should be part of Pakistan or be independent?

Pakistan                             65%

Independent                       34%

There is a strong North-South divide on the issue. Karachi actually has a majority in favour of independence.

* Do you think Pakistan should be on friendlier terms with India?

Yes                                    59%

No                                     40 %

The anti-India sentiment is most pronounced in Sukkur, which is the only city where those against better ties are in a majority.

* Should Indian artistes be allowed to perform in Pakistan?

Yes                                    34%

No                                     65 %

While Pakistanis seem to want better relations with India politically, the same does not extend to cultural exchange.

* Do you think Pakistan will fight a war with India in the next five years?

No                                    50 %

Yes                                   29%

Pakistan continues to have wild mood swings on this front.

PTI Report On Pakistani Opinion Poll

An overwhelming majority of people in Pakistan would like to have friendly relations with India, according to a latest survey conducted by Herald, published from Karachi in its annual number of the golden jubilee year of formation of Pakistan in 1947.

The "path-breaking" survey, which goes on to show that anti-Indian hawks in the establishment are speaking for a minority, reveals that friendlier ties with India have been favoured by most people across the regional divide in the country. Quetta in Baluchistan seems to be the least hostile to India, followed by Karachi, Multan, Lahore and Peshawar.

The anti-India feeling, according to the survey, is strangely, most pronounced in Sukkar (Sind) which is the only city where those against better ties are in a majority.

The city-wise percentage break-up of those in favour of good neighbourly relations with India is: Karachi (67.8), Lahore (52.2), Islamabad/Rawalpindi (50.6), Peshawar (52.2), Quetta (80.0), Multan (61.7) and Sukkar (43.9). There is also a large difference on this issue between the sexes. Men are far more pro-India (67%) than women (50%) overall, with affluent and middle- class men the most in favour of breaking down the walls.

Fewer people in Pakistan are apprehensive of a war with India. A majority of the population in Karachi (51 per cent), Lahore (65.5), Multan (61) and Quetta (51) do not think Pakistan will fight another war with India in the next five years.

A majority of men in the young, high-income group are in favour of more (cultural) interaction. Poor women, on the other hand, take a diametrically opposite and, dare one say, sterner view of the situation, the survey reports.

Most Pakistanis tend to reject the proposition that the country should accept the actual Line of Control (LoC) as an international border, making the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) an official part of Pakistan and the rest a part of India. The strength of feeling about any compromise over the Kashmir issue seems to rise as one travels north.