INDO PAKISTAN RELATIONS
Inder Kumar Gujral on Equilibrium between Globalisation, Nationalism and Sub-Nationalism
The global society is seeking to find an equilibrium between the opposing pulls generated by the forces of globalisation, nationalism and sub-nationalism. Indeed, it is difficult to see just how they can be balanced, yet they must be or else the potential for international conflagration will be immense. Hence, the absolute need for extreme caution to prevent established nation-states from being destabilised either through too hasty a push towards globalisation, or the pull of sub- national demands. We see this as a challenge which we will have to face collectively as well as individually.
A global menace that threatens international peace, and to which open democracies are particularly vulnerable, is terrorism. Terrorism should be anathema to the international community because it is the antithesis of every ideal that the UN Charter enshrines. Its main vehicle is violence, its aim is destruction rather than development, its doctrines are founded on intolerance, and in the means, it uses and the effect it has, it destroys human rights utterly. Incitement to terrorism, and complicity and participation in terrorism across borders, undermine the international system. And even though very few societies are free from its clutches, we still have not developed a global strategy to defeat this evil.
Terrorism has a global web, spanning all continents, and quickly building links with the other global menace of drugs. We in India see in our region just how deadly a poison this mix of terrorism and drugs is. The United Nations should take the lead in determined global action to root out these scourges.
(Source: The Mainstream, 11 October, 1997)
Kuldip Nayar on Pakistan's No War Pact Offer
For the last few years there has been no progress on any front between India and Pakistan because the latter would make Kashmir 'the core issue'. first Kashmir, then anything else - has been Islamabad's refrain. The talks between the Foreign Secretaries of the two countries have again got stuck on Kashmir. New Delhi is willing to discuss the problem, along with the other pending issues. But Pakistan Foreign Secretary wants to make a 'show' of talks on Kashmir. This is understandably difficult for the Inder Gujral Government to accept because even the mention of Kashmir is not to the liking of the anti-Pakistan lobby which is quite strong in the country. Does Islamabad want a solution or propaganda?
Mercifully, the third round of talks in Delhi has been adjourned', not ended. The two sides are bound to pick up the thread again.
Yet the best thing that has happened since the last meeting of the Foreign Secretaries in Nawaz Sharif's offer of a non-aggression pact. And for the first time in the history of India-Pakistan relations, the pact is offered without any prior understanding on Kashmir. Even the Pakistan press has pointed it out.
But it is not understandable why the Indian officials are determined to sabotage the proposal. In fact, they made a fool of themselves in New York when they rejected the proposal. Islamabad had a propaganda victory when the Indian officials were cool towards the proposal.
New Delhi should seize the opportunity with both hands. Any quibbling or further elucidation from Pakistan may give it an excuse to put conditions.
It will open still another track. Suppose the talks between the two Secretaries on various matters, including Kashmir, get derailed, there will be another track, that of the no-war proposal, for movement. The effort to reach an understanding will not be stalled. Both sides will be talking. Things as they stand today do not look healthy at all. There is mistrust Motives are sought where there may be none. The baggage of the past is too heavy. There is not much likelihood of progress on the actual problems between the two countries.
That is why the no-war pact offer assumes great importance. There is a possibility of the two countries coming to some understanding on keeping hostilities out while grappling with such issues as have defied solution for the last fifty years. The peoples on both sides will welcome a no-war pact because their present thoughts are dominated by the fear that there may still be another war if the Kashmir problem remains unsolved. A no-war pact will assure them that whatever the outcome of the discussion on Kashmir, the two will not begin shooting. What a relief a no-war pact will be!
Meanwhile, both the countries must seriously consider the proposal by Mahboob-ul-Haq, a Pakistani expert to scale down the military expenditure by five per cent and to divert the amount to the programmes to eliminate illiteracy. The cut in defence expenditure may set in motion a process that may ultimately banish hatred, it not estrangement between the two.
(Source: The Mainstream, 18 October, 1997)
