INDIA-PAKISTAN RELATIONS — Pragmatism is the Answer

INDIA-PAKISTAN RELATIONS Pragmatism is the Answer M AY 26, 2014 was a historic day in Indian politics. On this day the fifteenth Prime Minister of India was sworn in. Pakistan’s Prime Minister personally attended the ceremony. Later, there was also a meeting between the two prime ministers. This event holds great hopes for many people, for they believe that this may be a fresh beginning which will give a new direction to the relationship between India and Pakistan. Optimism is good, but in practical life it is always reality that prevails, and not optimism. The experience of the past is enough to make us believe that the problems between India and Pakistan cannot be solved by conventional methods. Now is the time to rethink the entire matter. It requires a creative formula. A creative formula is never based on idealism: it can be based only on pragmatism. Pragmatism is the only option in this regard. Delink political and economic issues so that trade is not held hostage to political disputes. India and Pakistan have tried to solve their problems through wars, track-two diplomacy, through the so-called internationalization of the issue, and so on. But, all these have failed to achieve the required results. Now we need a fresh outlook. What is meant by a fresh outlook is not ‘fresh’ in the complete sense of the word. It is, in fact, the revival of a wise formula initially suggested by an eminent economist from Pakistan, Dr. Mahbub ul Haq. But it didn’t prove to be acceptable to the Pakistani people at that time. He was forced to leave Pakistan and settled in New York where he died at an early age on July 16, 1998. His formula was based on the delinking policy, which means the delinking of political and economic issues and on the notion that trade should not be held hostage to the Kashmir dispute (Indo-Pak Relations: New Voices for Peace, Rita Manchanda, Journal of Peace Studies, Vol. 3, Issue 14, January-February, 1996).