Tensions in the subcontinent

News from Pakistan and India over the past couple weeks has been quite worrisome, and particularly so for the Pakistani-American community watching the affair from a distance.

It is estimated that there are about half a million Americans of Pakistani descent. Indian diaspora in America is several times larger, more or less in proportion to the two countries’ populations. Both of these diaspora communities, while well settled in their new homeland, continue to be emotionally connected to their countries of origin. They travel frequently and closely watch developments there.

Given these emotional attachments, and seeing what has happened elsewhere in the Middle East, it is extremely worrying to hear angry words being exchanged between these countries and loose talk of ‘revenge’ and ‘war’. It is advisable to be reminded of what Prime Minister Imran Khan said: it is easy to start wars but very hard to bring them to an end.

Relations between India and Pakistan unfortunately, have reached a point where coolheaded dialogue seems increasingly difficult. As far as the matter of Kashmir is concerned, the governments – and perhaps most of the people of the two nations – don’t even start from the same set of facts. It seems hard for a government in India to accept that their iron-fisted actions against the insurgency in Kashmir has pushed matters to where they are now; after all, it was a Kashmiri who carried out the attack in Pulwana.

Similarly, people of Pakistan may have a hard time accepting anything other than their own narrative on Kashmir. Pakistanis firmly believe they are just supporting the legitimate aspirations of Kashmiris in determining their own future.

While this is going on in the Subcontinent, there is a battle for ‘hearts and minds’ raging across the West. Within the US there are many diaspora communities. Each is engaged in lobbying efforts to communicate with and influence US policymakers. Over the past few years, the Indian-American community has gained much momentum in this effort, aided by their numbers and their increasing prominence in the US economy. Additionally, it appears they are much more politically engaged than perhaps the Pakistani-American community may be.

In recent years, one of the Pakistani ambassadors in Washington made a concerted effort to engage with the Pakistani-American community here and encourage them to use their lobbying clout to be spokespersons for the legitimate policies of their native homeland. However, a rapid succession of changes in the Pakistani ambassador position in Washington has seen this effort fizzle out.

Pakistan sits at a very strategic place in the geopolitical map of the world. While this gives the country a prominent role as it dialogues with the various world powers, it also puts Pakistan under a microscope. Within this month of February, the attack in Kashmir was not the only one drawing Pakistan into a potential conflict. On February 13, there was an attack in Iran killing 27 of their security personnel. A high -ranking Irani military officer alleged there were at least some Pakistanis involved in this attack.

While it is hard these days to separate real claims from fake ones, it is in the interest of Pakistan to take very strong steps against any non-state actors. Pakistan surely is a large, complex country, and it is very hard for any government to control every corner of the land. Yet a concerted, high-profile effort would help convince the world that it is doing all it can. Such an effort will also help bring focus on the policies of other countries that may be fuelling their own home-grown insurgencies.

The writer is a Pakistani-American based in Washington D C.

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