Some recent sounds that emanate form both India and Pakistan strike as very familiar to the ones we have been hearing time to time. Though it can’t be swiftly declared as a beginning of a thaw. But not reading a dimmed warming up, would be too much of cynicism. It is true that the relationship between the two countries – India and Pakistan – is always a risky surmising. And there is experience that backs this wavering of minds. When the two are at loggerheads, suddenly something happens and the tables are arranged. When the talking is going, suddenly a disruption makes them leave the dialogue room and draw daggers. This has been happening for decades now, and we are sort of used to it. This circular movement makes us believe that whatever happens nothing is going to change finally. But is that the case. This question needs serious thinking, and not perfunctory response. It is here that the commentaries on Indo-Pak relations add to the sense of futility. That is unfortunate. If the intellectuals and civil society actors behave the same way as the demagogues, it becomes difficult for the political leaders and the state institutions to fructify the efforts. The relationship between the two countries impinges on the life of the people living in these countries. It is not only for the foreign relations experts, or the security specialists, to talk about the bilateral relations, or shape up its contours. Actually it is for the people of the two countries to get serious about it. For this, the two sides need to know each beyond the staple hate stuff thrown at them by the superficial soundbites and video clips. The moment people come close to each other the promoters of hate will find themselves in the dock. So if the two countries fail to mend fences, and find solution to mutual problems, it is, at a larger level, collective failure of the people living in the two countries.
Unalterable Neighbourhood
