Regional stability

There is huge promise in South Asia and the entire region if a proper understanding can be built, stretching from the west of the region to the east. Pakistan's military chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa emphasised this at the Islamabad Security Dialogue held in the federal capital over the past few days. He and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who also spoke at the gathering, as well as Prime Minister Imran Khan have said that the main hurdle lies in sorting out the Kashmir issue so that some process of dialogue and discussion could begin with India. There were signs of a break in the long era of hostility between the two countries, which nearly came to war again in 2019 after the Indian invasion of Pakistan's airspace, but this can only happen if steps like the meeting of the DGMOs at the Line of Control are continued. There must also be a return to the past ceasefire to prevent deaths at the LoC. Meanwhile, softer steps like contact between people, Sir Creek, the water dispute and other issues can be discussed as a means to breaking a dangerous deadlock.

Pakistan's leaders, civilian and military, have thus made it very clear that they are ready for a new order in which Pakistan and India enjoy closer ties. Gen Bajwa has also said Pakistan is ready to play any role it can in bringing about peace in Afghanistan so that a new era of peaceful ties could extend from Kabul to New Delhi and beyond. This is an important pronouncement of Pakistan's hopes for peace in South Asia. Imran Khan has already said that if India takes one step, Pakistan is ready to take two. Unfortunately, till now, India has taken backward steps with its move in August 2019 in Kashmir when it ended the special status of the territory and divided it into two union territories, while also beginning a process which could bring demographic change to India's only Muslim majority state. Attacks on Muslims in India have not helped either.

General Bajwa is right when he says Pakistan needs to mend its own house, so that there can be no intervention from outside while doing everything it can to create a more harmonious environment, not because it is under pressure from any source to do so but because this is the only rational way forward. Indeed, it is the only sensible thing to do. We must hope that Indian leaders begin to think the same way and move forward on the small steps they have made over the past months, so that strides can be made, which bring South Asia and its people closer together in a more peaceful relationship.

There also has to be a development orientation in the countries of South Asia which are poor performers on nearly all development indicators. Be it the provision of good health and education facilities or the supply of clean drinking water and sanitation, South Asia lags behind many other regions in the world. Internal peace and stability comes from at least two sources: one, an internal harmony among various ethnic, linguistic, religious, and sectarian groups; and two, a spirit to develop as a country that focuses more on development and welfare of the people rather than just amassing arms and ammunitions that has been happening in South Asia for decades. All countries of this region must come to a conclusion: they cannot live or progress in isolation. The ‘failed solutions of yesteryears’ have lost their purpose, and we can no more just keep blaming each other for our miseries.