The Indian army has been shelling the civil population on the borders areas of Pakistan since Indian High Commissioner Dr TCA Raghavan stressed the need for enhancing trade relations between Pakistan and India, a few days ago. The Indian diplomat also said that his government was making serious efforts to ease visa regime for businessmen, and that more ground routes would be opened under the agreements with Pakistan on customs operation, acceptance of standards and resolution of trade issues.
Dr Raghavan’s desire for increased economic cooperation between the two countries is welcome. In fact Pakistan has always tried to establish friendly relations with India but the leadership of that country has refused to forget the bitter past. The Indian leadership is still struggling to accept Pakistan as a reality and showed its inability to treat it as an equal partner. Despite a victim of Indian aggression, which had divided Pakistan into two, Islamabad has always welcomed any friendly gesture from India and always tried to establish good neighbourly relations with it. Both the countries are fighting against common enemies such as poverty, illiteracy and terrorism. Both Pakistan and India are developing countries and can change the lot of their people by enhancing mutual cooperation in trade and investment. There is potential of billions of dollars trade between the two countries which should be exploited for the benefit of their respective people.
If Indian high commission Dr Raghavan is true to his words, he should persuade his government in New Delhi to resolve the longstanding issue of Kashmir and reciprocate the friendly gesture of Pakistan. India will have to come out of obsession that Pakistan is a small unimportant country and it was its prerogative to keep it under constant pressure. Pakistan and India both share common history, culture and language and the two nations lived for hundreds of years together. Now why cannot they make peace and live like good neighbouring countries is a big question mark.
