It was probably a good thing that after the much-anticipated meeting took place between the leaders of India and Pakistan during the SAARC summit in Islamabad there were no banner announcements, no big initiative and very little fuss at all.
There is too much at stake for both countries to indulge in razzmatazz. The dignified handshake between President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was good enough for the present. It is also right that the two leaders and their colleagues have been seeking to go back to basics and have been trying to understand each other’s concerns.
It is too easy to imagine that Jammu and Kashmir is the one and only issue that has set these two countries at odds for so long. The roots of mutual mistrust lie much deeper. They have a lot to do with the terrible bloodletting among Hindus and Muslims following the creation of the two separate states. Then there is the perceived threat of India’s growing power as its economy expands and it moves steadily toward the day when it can demand its place at the top table with other major economies. Pakistan by contrast is lagging behind.
But Pakistani business need not feel resentment at the economic lead India has gained. As a neighbor, Pakistan could play an important part in India’s own growing business and manufacturing success. But for cross-border enterprise to flourish, there will need to be a level of trust and confidence.
This trust cannot be conjured up overnight. Much will need to happen beforehand, and of course the resolution of the Kashmir question will have to be part of that process. But this week’s handshake in Islamabad, after three years in which these two neighbors have been effectively isolated from each other, is a crucial beginning.
There still are forces in both India and Pakistan that would rather see each country as an armed camp. But wiser heads were shocked by the rapid and frightening escalation of confrontation last year. They have decided that the stand-off must end. The important issue now is that steady progress be made. It doesn’t have to be dramatic, but it must be consistent and it must be fair. That President Musharraf and Premier Vajpayee have chosen to focus on the fundamental misunderstandings between their two countries is extremely wise. They are laying a foundation for trust and for lasting peace and, in the longer run, for greater economic prosperity for Pakistanis and Indians alike.
The benefits will also flow further afield, since this week’s other agreement in Islamabad, between the seven SAARC members, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to create a free trade zone by January 2006, may well be the vehicle upon which part of this new understanding is built.
