For last couple of days the media is abuzz with talks that the Pakistan military under General Qamar Javed Bajwa wants to talk with India as it feels that the way to peace and prosperity is through military cooperation with India.
Referring to a report brought out by the UK’s premier think tank Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) on international defence and security last week, speculations are rife about warming up of ties between the two arch-rivals who have agreed in principle to take part in joint military drills in Russia in September under the umbrella of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
Pertinently, the RUSI report notes that recent military operations in Fata have brought security and stability on the western border, encouraging the Pakistan Army to approach India with the understanding that it will help Pakistan’s upward economic trajectory and allow regional trade flourish.
The report points out that both India and Pakistan have tried to forge relationships before as well. In the 1980s, Gen Ziaul Haq, and then Indian Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, became close. Then, retired Gen Pervez Musharraf and Atal Bihari Vajpayee also came close at a 2002 summit in Agra to resolving the Kashmir conflict despite a year-long tense situation on the border. “Approaches by Pakistani generals have been welcomed by some in India, because they are seen to be able to deliver on peace,” the RUSI report said adding that “in a historic first last month,” Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa invited Sanjay Vishwasrao, the Indian military attaché, and his team to the Pakistan Day military parade in Islamabad. The move indicates that “ties between the two foes are warming up,” it adds, noting that Gen Bajwa followed this two weeks later by saying that the Pakistan military wanted peace and dialogue with India.
Regardless of how the RUSI perceives the statements of the Pakistani military leadership the fact remains that the Gen. Bajwa had made it absolutely clear that being a peace-loving country Pakistan wants to resolve all outstanding issues including the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir with India peacefully. He, however, stated that Pakistan’s desire for peace must not be construed as a sign of the country’s weakness.
So far as the question of Pakistan’s military outreaching “India for cooperation” is concerned although there is no official word on what is being discussed in the media right now but there is no harm in pursuing the policy of dialogue with India as dialogue happens to be the most effective tool to seek solution of conflicts in the current times. Pakistan has never been averse to opening up dialogue with India. The civil and military leadership in Pakistan has always been keen to develop a cordial and friendly relationship with all its neighbours including India on the basis of sovereign equality and mutual respect. But it is quite unfortunate that India had unilaterally closed down all channels of communication with Pakistan. The absence of dialogue not only allows other factors to intervene but also makes already complicated disputes even more complex. Needless to say that dialogue is the only way to settle disputes it is time that New Delhi must realize this reality and reciprocate positively to Pakistan’s overtures for peace in South Asia as lasting peace and prosperity is all that the teeming millions on both sides of the border are striving for.
