Rare are days when India and Pakistan agree on cooperation for longstanding issues between these two countries. While presenting the case of Pakistan at United Nations General Assembly session, the Prime Minister, Shahid Khaqan Abbassi, blamed India for sponsoring terrorist outfits who carry out attacks on the soil of Pakistan. Abbasi’s speech also highlighted the need for resolving the issue of Kashmir. Abbasi, in his speech, demanded the international community to inspect the gross human rights violations committed by India in occupied Kashmir.
To the comments of PM Abbasi, came a knee-jerk response from New Delhi. Sushma Swaraj in an attempt to twist the facts and conceal the history of Indian interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan argued that Pakistan had given the world ‘terrorist’ whereas India served the humanity as it produced doctors and engineers.
Relying on the art of rhetoric, common in declamation contests in schools, Sushma Swaraj asked Pakistan if it had ever produced scholars, doctors or scientist of international repute. She forgets how intellectuals are treated back home. The ultra-right-wing RSS vigilantes now and then try to teach “liberals and socialists” a lesson. She conveniently forgot the confessions of the Indian spy Khulbushan Jadhav, and the human rights violations by the Indian army in Kashmir.
Pakistan’s representative to the United Nations, Maleeha Lodhi, reminded the world community that India used terrorism as its state policy. While both Islamabad and New Delhi exchange heated arguments and hurl accusations against each other as a routine matter, neither of the state wants to sweep before its door.
The word wars between both the states are not much different than that between the United States and North Korea. Accusations and intolerance to other’s point of view are the main reasons that Islamabad and New Delhi have not been able to find solutions for any of the pending issues between them. The Indian and Pakistani approach is a mirror image of the affairs between Washington and Pyongyang. Though on occasions, it seems that issues are heading towards right directions then suddenly some trivial issue hijacks the table talks.
One wonders if a solution to the longstanding issues between Islamabad and New Delhi will be provided. One also wonders will both the states ever agree to the proposals or solutions presented to them by international organizations. One thing is clear despite all this friction and hostility towards each other that the solution to all our shared problems lies in the process of dialogue. If the European states can put aside their differences and resolve their territorial disputes, why can’t India and Pakistan take the same road?
