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  ‘Let’s invent a future’

‘Let’s invent a future’

| HINA RABBANI KHAR
Published : Jan 9, 2016, 11:39 pm IST
Updated : Jan 9, 2016, 11:39 pm IST

I do not believe relations between India and Pakistan are a zero-sum game. It is not true that in every move, gesture or negotiation, one of us is a winner, the other a loser.

I do not believe relations between India and Pakistan are a zero-sum game. It is not true that in every move, gesture or negotiation, one of us is a winner, the other a loser. If peace wins, both countries win, and both countries win big.

Pakistan-India relations have been so predictably negative in the last many decades that hope seems like a pastime of the foolish. Optimism, if expressed publicly about the permanent course correction in Pakistan-India relations, would relegate one to being unrealistic and worse still, unaware of history.

I appreciate the complexity of the Indo-Pakistan dynamics, but I am also deeply aware that rational, logical thinking coupled with statesmanship can only lead to one path - that is of an uninterrupted and uninterruptable dialogue process to resolve all outstanding disputes and then clear the way for normal, predictable and mutually beneficial relations. And yes, there will be monumental roadblocks on the way. There will be incidents that will potentially derail the dialogue process. Even before the full impact of PM Modi's brief stopover in Lahore could be truly absorbed, Pathankot airbase attack threatens to blow all the goodwill away.

The only thing that will be required to see this process through is conviction: deep instinctive commitment to achieve lasting peace. This will be manifested if leadership on both sides of the border is able to stay the course. For India, not to jump at pointing the finger towards Pakistan, and for Pakistan, to earnestly work towards allaying India's fear. If any evidence is found of a non-state actor using Pakistan's soil against India, then India will be well within its right to expect Pakistan to act against it.

In as much as this incident could potentially derail the dialogue process, it also presents an opportunity for both India and Pakistan to act differently than how they have always acted. It's a rare opportunity to break away from the trust deficit that has besieged this relationship and start the trust-building process.

I have often maintained that we must learn our lessons from history but not be hostage to it. We cannot proceed forward if we do not allow ourselves the luxury of hope.

PM Modi came into power with a thumping majority, I experienced in Delhi, first hand, the electric energy that was generated in India on his victory. Being interviewed by Karan Thapar, I remember saying that PM Modi has a unique opportunity to deliver on normalising first and then fixing the Pakistan-India track. I said this because PM Modi has at least two attributes that were not shared by his predecessor. One, he is a strong man within his own party; two, his party has a huge majority in Parliament and, unlike PM Manmohan Singh, he is not held back by a weak coalition.

And yet, for nearly two years, PM Modi did all that his worst detractors would have predicted. Under his watch, at least two rounds of dialogue were scuttled due to the excuse of Pakistan insisting on contacting Hurriyat leadership. LOC incidents escalated, and with it, so did the rhetoric from India. The Pakistani government sadly followed suit and responded by resorting to refer to India as the enemy again.

I have a huge problem with referring to a neighbour as an enemy. As we know well, the geography of a country cannot be changed. You can change your friends but not your neighbours. That being the case, why should we invest in infesting the minds of our young on both sides of the border with hatred for each other

And then, it seems common sense and statesmanship prevailed. National security advisors and foreign secretaries of the two countries met in Bangkok.

Sushma Swaraj attended the Heart of Asia Conference in Pakistan, Once again, a new nomenclature was developed to name the talks between the two neighbours. This time it is 'Bilateral Comprehensive Dialogue'. And the grand finale of this string of positive events was the arrival of PM Modi in Lahore.

With that single gesture, PM Modi has become a stakeholder in the continuation of an uninterruptable dialogue process between the two countries. The only way to predict the future is to invent it. Leaders will come and go, the challenge is to play your part in inventing a future that is stable, predictable and prosperous.

The writer is the former foreign minister of Pakistan