India and Pakistan were back to their annual slanging match at the 72nd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) held in New York last week. The skirmish began with Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, criticising India in his speech at the UNGA. Accusing India of war crimes, he sought the appointment of a special envoy for Kashmir. India shot back immediately, with the Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj launching a scathing attack on Islamabad alleging that it promoted terrorism. With the media in both countries taking a cue from the scrimmage at the UN, diplomats of India and Pakistan ensured that the verbal back-and-forth continued for days together.
It is the 70th year since both countries gained their independence from the British in 1947. Seven decades is a long time to fix problems, but understanding the complexity of the discord between India and Pakistan is the key here. With long-standing ideological and territorial antagonisms, among which the Kashmir dispute ranks quite high, both countries have tried to, but failed repeatedly to reach a solution to the various issues that keep them at loggerheads. At several points in their collective history, leaders from India and Pakistan have sparred and bickered in international forums — to no avail.
At the UNGA this year, the accusations levelled by both countries have the potential to worsen the conflict, which has bedevilled the subcontinent for years. The confrontation is a distraction given Pakistan’s efforts to overcome its huge domestic problems and India’s aspirations to take a permanent seat in the Security Council. A bilateral process aimed to resolve the issues between the two nations can go a long way towards achieving those goals. This might require the bricks-and-mortar of sustained discussions on the basis of common interests. The world expects India and Pakistan to handle their bilateral issues with the maturity of responsible nuclear nations. It might sound cliche but peace is an absolute requisite for both — India’s grand economic plans, and Pakistan’s quest towards faster development. If the countries must fight anything, it is the common scourge of poverty, weak public services, high inflation, crumbling infrastructure and the lack of opportunities for its teeming millions.
Leaders in New Delhi and Islamabad must not afford an opportunity to hardliners in the respective countries to call the shots, and create a fresh set of problems. Apart from guarding against escalation in an increasingly unpredictable world, both India and Pakistan must learn to coexist peacefully.
