One of the perennial problems of India-Pakistan relations is the predictable unpredictability of its progress. This is caused by mistrust on both sides. It is perhaps not realised in Pakistan that the bulk of that mistrust has been caused by the persistent hostility to India shown by the Pakistani ruling elite, which continues to promote Kashmir as the “core issue” which must be solved according to its own perspective. Kashmir also became a core issue for India since ’88 because of cross-border terrorism and we have tended to judge the weight of the mistrust by the quantum of terrorism and even infiltration from across the border, often ignoring indigenous frustrations.But what we need to note now is the changes that now impact the situation. There is an upsurge of hope for peace among the people in both countries. They are looking for normal relations between India and Pakistan and a better life created by the enhancement of political, economical and social opportunities. They want neither war nor terrorism. But people, even in democracies, don’t make and execute policy although they have a great influence on it because of the impact of public opinion. The second issue is that a perception had grown in Pakistan that only a BJP-led government, in general, and an Atal Bihari Vajpayee in particular, would be able to make concessions from the Indian side for an acceptable solution to the problems between the two countries. But what is being ignored in this assessment are the limitations of space available to New Delhi — for exactly the same reason that had led to the failure of the previous two initiatives under the NDA: the first coincided with a war launched by the Pakistani army, and the other resulted in the fiasco at Agra.Public memory is proverbially short. It has also ignored that the Congress party, too, has made a consistent effort over the decades to normalise ties with Pakistan. The dialogue programme set into motion by the previous government after Vajpayee’s third attempt at offering a peace dialogue on the basis of the earlier agenda had a timeline only up to August this year. The promise of the current round between the two foreign ministers for a future dialogue programme and negotiations for normalisation and peace, therefore, marks a major new phase that deserves to be welcomed wholeheartedly, but without unnecessary euphoria. Pakistan is entering a new era of politics under a new prime minister. The contours of the emerging polity is still not clear at this stage. We have our own challenges and priorities. Therefore the best that both countries can do at this juncture is to keep moving forward — even if this movement recalls that of the proverbial tortoise.
