‘India not responsive to Pak overtures’

Karachi
There has been no response to Pakistan’s overtures to India to improve ties. There has been no Indian response to the discussion of the Kashmir issue.
These views were expressed by Masood Khan, director general of the Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad, formerly Pakistan’s permanent representative at the United Nations and
ambassador to China.
He was addressing the media, academics and members of the Pakistan Institute of International Affairs (PIIA) on Wednesday evening. The
subject of his talk was, “Pakistan: security challenges and opportunities”.
Khan cautioned against Pakistan capitulating on Kashmir and said that even if we did so, hostility between the two countries would continue to be there.
Modi, he said, would continue to be aggressive. Pakistan should relate to the issue with dignity and refrain from softening its stand on Kashmir. Both countries should exercise restraint as regards the nuclear option.
He said national interests were the keystone of Pakistan’s actions and any policy it formulated must have the interests of the people as the supreme criterion.
Khan said the four cornerstones of our policy were: ideology, sovereignty, socio-economic development, and democracy.
Pakistan, he said, had been the victim of instability. “We must have a comprehensive response to that. Terrorism today is our chief dilemma.”
Next, he cited violent extremism, ethnic/religious violence and transnational and trans-regional crime. He agreed that democracy was under threat and democratic institutions had still to gain a foothold.
He said Pakistan faced hostility from various quarters for the following reasons. These could be summed up as: different shades of ideology making inroads into Pakistan; secessionist tendencies, often foreign inspired; Western neo-liberal standards; the perennial secularist versus theocrat debates; drone attacks which were a brazen violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty; economic imbroglio; wide difference in national discourse; and security operations not fully succeeding.
He was of the view that the turbulence in the Middle East would affect Pakistan. He was highly optimistic about the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and said it would have a profoundly positive effect on Pakistan’s economy and well-being.
Khan said it would connect China with Europe through Central Asia. “It will be the pathway and destination of goods and the latest in technology. It will create a new, positive corporate culture in Pakistan.”
He disagreed with a questioner who had apprehensions about Pakistan being swamped by an alien culture with the constant flow of traffic between China and the west through Pakistan, and said Pakistani culture was rich enough to stand on its own.
If at all, a new corporate culture would make inroads into Pakistan which would have beneficial effects, he added.