1. Home
2. Editorial

Peace key to growth in SA

Kashmir Times. Dated: 3/11/2015 2:22:23 PM

Both India and Pakistan can pick up threads from the point dialogue was suspended or initiate structured talks on all contentious issues

Indian establishment’s initiative to engage the neighbouring country Pakistan in talks can only be welcome, when the former is ready to open the entire region in the process. In fact, it is a welcome step on the part of India to send its Foreign Secretary on a tour of all members of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) beginning from Pakistan so that all of them can be engaged in a positive dialogue. This development has been seen by the experts and analysts as an opportunity and new initiative for “talks for talks” between the two main neighbours in South Asian region who hold the key to maintenance of peace for the future. Already three full scale wars and low intensity conflicts between India and Pakistan on regular intervals during the past 70 years have always threatened the peace in the entire region besides a threat of escalation which can involve other nations in South Asian region. Above all other things, nuclear power achievement by both India and Pakistan is seen as a threat to the world peace in the event of any conflict between them also holding a threat for escalation on the global level. Extension of invitation to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief and other leaders in the neighbourhood for attending the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year was seen as a major beginning for improvement of bilateral relations between the two countries besides holding key to peace in the region. The resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan is also seen as a positive development so far maintenance of peace in the region is concerned. It is also been seen as a positive engagement after the talks between the two countries were cancelled in the wake of exchange of firing on the Line of Control (LoC) in which several innocent and precious lives were lost last year. This has been, unfortunately, leading to increased skirmishes between the troops of the two nations threatening the ceasefire and peace that was agreed following a declaration by the heads of two nations more than a decade back.
It will not be out of place to mention that peace in the region is key to growth and prosperity for the people of this region. The engagement of all neighbours by India can also lead to crucial and increased allocation and expenditure on social sector for the overall development of poor masses, who are crying for attention and meeting their demands for upliftment of socially and economically weaker sections of the society in the entire region teeming with millions of poor. Sight should not be lost of the fact that more than a third of the world’s poor people are living in this region barely being able to make two ends meet. Instead of allocating major part of their GDP earning on defence and war materials, the two nations need to concentrate on social and economic uplift of their people when the whole world is moving to reconciliation to ensure world peace. Both India and Pakistan do not have any other option than to resume dialogue and pick up threads from the past when the talks process was suspended on contentious issues. One more important crucial element is to pursue a structured dialogue on all issues between the two nations including contentious issue of Kashmir in the larger interest of peace and stability in the region. The structured dialogue can be carried within a fixed time-frame or as may be agreed between them and picked up from the 2004 declaration by virtue of which the two neighbours agreed to resolve all issues bilaterally. Apart from this, the expansion of SAARC with China and Afghanistan as permanent invitees and willingness to co-opt members from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in development of trade at the regional level are being seen as emergence of new block on the global trade front. This will go a long way in ensuring peace and stability in the region and prosperity for its people.