Wall at Wagah should come down

Comparisons are odious. Still, when Europe celebrated early last week the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, I thought of the border at Wagah, drawn more than 62 years ago. It has no wall.

Yet it is difficult to scale, because its brick and mortar is that of distrust and bias. The Berlin Wall was built to separate the two Germanys. It was a forced division. In the case of India and Pakistan, the partition came about after a willing compromise.

Still, the fact remains that the wall stands between the two countries to remind people how they have wasted some six decades in hating each other and in letting the opportunity for development together go by.

Founders of the two countries wanted relations to be friendly and amicable. Mahatma Gandhi told the Indians that he would go and live in Karachi. Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah said that Pakistan and India would be like Canada and America and enjoy the same close proximity, easy travel and trade. Both founders have been betrayed.

Liberals and intellectuals on either side should assess what they have lost and what is still achievable. We peaceniks have hit a plateau and find it difficult to move further. We go over the same exercise when we meet at seminars or colloquiums. We express lofty thoughts and we feel good in venting them.

Yet we have made little progress because those who enjoy power find it beneficial if the two countries do not make progress politically, economically or socially. One leading Pakistani businessman, recently in India, said that Pakistan had been stumped by its military and India by its leaders.

Spreading hatred

The common man, groaning under the burden of rising prices and shrinking income, gets no reprieve from the propaganda doled out day in and day out. He is fed up with the same slogans used for 60 years to instill in the public mind the notion that the enemy lives across the border and should not be trusted. The media have been willing partners, spreading hatred and venom. I am more concerned about the youth, which in India is becoming indifferent to Pakistan.

When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said at Srinagar a few days ago that India was willing to have talks with Pakistan and laid down no conditions, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani should have picked up the telephone to request him to fix the date for talks.

Instead, Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that India was behind the Taliban. The evidence produced was a few Indian weapons, which are available anywhere, and "a stack of currency notes" sent to Balochistan. How does New Delhi gain by backing the Taliban, who have said that India was their next target?

On the other hand, Pakistan has taken little action against the perpetrators of the November 26, 2008, Mumbai terrorist attacks. The case has been endlessly adjourned for one reason or another. True, the court cannot be harried. But does it explain the delays?

True, Pakistan is in the midst of a do-or-die struggle. It needs all the help and understanding it can get. But it has not yet realised that it could better face the situation by making up with India. This is not possible until Islamabad stops behaving as if India is its enemy.

It is often said that India must address Kashmir first. New Delhi has said many a time that it wants to reach a peaceful settlement. But Kashmir is not the cause — it is a consequence. There is so much suspicion that even if Kashmir were resolved, another problem would take its place.

The priority for both countries should be to reach an accord on Afghanistan. With Abdullah Abdullah withdrawing from the presidential election because of vote-rigging, Afghanistan's leadership has been ruptured. Even a united Afghanistan is not strong enough to confront the Taliban — a divided one has no chance.

New Delhi and Islamabad may be able to bring the divided leaders together. America's stake in Afghanistan only extends to fighting against Al Qaida and the Taliban. India and Pakistan have a long-term interest in Afghanistan. They should help the country become strong so that it can fight against the forces of terrorism on its own.

Sooner or later, American and European forces are going to withdraw. India and Pakistan need to come up with a policy to ensure there is no vacuum when that happens.

If the region subscribed to a policy of free trade and travel then other problems would become easier to solve. Then I would anticipate that the wall at Wagah would come down at last.

Kuldip Nayar is a former Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and a former Rajya Sabha member.