Less war, more talk

In his recent tour to New Delhi, US President Trump reiterated that he is ready to mediate between Pakistan and India as far as the thorny Kashmir conflict is concerned. Pakistan, time and again, accepted such offers unequivocally but it is India which is not ready to accept the role of any third party to fix this problem. It seems the authorities in India know only one solution to this problem and that is to silence the slogans of freedom by force. The writings on the wall is crystal clear that Kashmiris will go to any extent to get back their homeland from Indian occupation. To date, New Delhi has tried every tactic to subjugate the freedom movement in Kashmir but has lost. The BJP-led Indian government went one step ahead when it stripped of the valley from its special status by abrogating Article 370 of the Indian constitution.

Trump's repeated offers to broker a peace deal between the two neighbouring states shows that Pakistan has, at least, succeeded in internationlizing this issue. In the same way, during his visit to Pakistan, UN Secretary General Antonio Gutteres also spoke at length on the Kashmir issue and favoured Pakistan's just instance in this regard. Although both Trump and Gutteres expressed their concerns over the Kashmir uprising, merely paying lip service will not suffice; rather a pragmatic approach is required. Ever since the Subcontinent freed itself from British rule, the bilateral ties between the two neighbouring states have never been ideal – and Kashmir is the moot point. Soon after the independence draft was signed, the two countries locked horns over Kashmir issue. Since then, both the states came face to face on many occasions. In the recent past, on February 27, 2019, both countries were at the brink of a nuclear armageddon but the timely intervention on the part of superpowers saved the region from a fatal collision. Instead of relying on deadly weapons, both countries must resort to dialogue to emancipate their people from the bane of extremism, severe hunger, crippling diseases, illiteracy and malnutrition.

Muhammad Fayyaz Nawrha

Mianwali