Chapter Sixteen

Peace in Kashmir Hudaybiya-like peace treaty, Pakistan will become a ‘dawah flashpoint’ instead. I suppose adopting a policy of reconciliation with regard to Kashmir would be a risk as far as your popularity is concerned. But the answer to this apprehension is provided in the Quran (4:128), which tells us that ‘reconciliation is best’. This means that if in contentious matters one avoids confrontation, and, instead, agrees to reconciliation, it is much better from the point of view of results. In life, every big success entails risks. You are aware that France’s colonial policies in Africa greatly weakened it. But General de Gaulle boldly, and in a unilateral way, ended this policy. The result of this was that the General’s popularity in France nosedived, but today this ‘de Guallism’ is regarded as a successful foreign policy because, due to it, France gained new strength after the Second World War. May God help you in every way! Wahiduddin They Sat Together, Talked, and Then Departed On 14th July 2001, the then Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf arrived in Delhi. The then Indian Prime Minister wanted the geographical and political status quo in Jammu and Kashmir to be maintained while normal relations were established between India and Pakistan in all other matters. This was essential for the progress of both countries. But the Pakistani President’s demand was that, first of all, the status quo in Jammu and Kashmir should be changed, and, according to his claim, Pakistan’s right over the entire state should be accepted. Only after that would he agree to normal relations between the two countries. Given these two different perspectives on the issue, the talks that were held between the leaders of the two countries on the occasion failed.