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Friday April 19, 2024

After Uri

By our correspondents
September 24, 2016

The world seems to be ready to jump on the Indian bandwagon. Uri is essentially an epic security failure. The recent speech of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the UNGA is welcome.

India is clearly targeting the CPEC and diverting attention from the Kashmiri intifada. Sushma Swaraj’s idea of limited scale engagement with Pakistan seems to be the option India is utilising. Something that India is forgetting, though, is the fact that the intifada comes from a new generation of Kashmiris. Raising Balochistan and will not help India unless they listen to the plight of the Kashmiris.

Saman Hamid

Peshawar      

*****

What India needs to know is that the Pakistan Army today is led by a professional general who comes from a family of dedicated soldiers who laid down their lives for their motherland. Sanity needs to prevail on both sides of the border. India needs to accept the reality and existence of Pakistan as a sovereign independent state and curb down fanatics like the Shiv Sena. It needs to follow the vision of Mahatma Gandhi. PM Nawaz Sharif has delivered a very balanced speech at the UN.

Pakistan’s political leadership and our establishment need to redraft priorities of our foreign policy with emphasis on good relations within the region, especially our neighbours. We should not allow any private armed groups and militias on our territory. There is too much poverty in both our countries and we need to focus on economic growth, while cracking down on massive corruption and the unchecked black economy. Pakistan and its leadership must continue the crackdown on terrorism which is the primary objective of Operation Zarb-e-Azb.

Malik Tariq Ali

Lahore