Oct. 30 – Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reached out to government of Pakistan on Wednesday, saying that it was the desire of India and the people of Pakistan to live in peace.
Addressing a mammoth gathering in Anantnag, the prime minister, underlined that Pakistan needed to curb terrorism directed at India. “For a productive dialogue it is essential that terrorism must be brought under control,” the Punjab-born prime minister said in Urdu, reading out from a prepared statement quoted in the Economic Times. “I strongly believe that the majority of the people in Pakistan seek good neighborly and cooperative relations between India and Pakistan. They seek a permanent peace. This is our view as well,” he said.
Mr. Singh’s speech comes amid persisting India-Pakistan tensions over what New Delhi says is Islamabad’s unwillingness to bring to book Islamist leaders who masterminded the Mumbai terror attack in November 2008. India was ready to discuss humanitarian “and other issues” with the Pakistani government the prime minister said. “I call upon the people and government of Pakistan to show their sincerity and good faith. As I have said many times before, we will not be found wanting in our response.”
At the same time, Mr. Singh said India “will press Pakistan to curb the activities of those elements that are engaging in terrorism in India. If they are non-state actors, it is the solemn duty of the government of Pakistan to bring them to book, to destroy their camps and to eliminate their infrastructure. The perpetrators of the acts of terror must pay the heaviest penalty for their barbaric crimes against humanity.“
Recent history in Pakistan is similar to events in Iran during the rule of the Shah. Both leaderships were strongly backed by the US, and were involved in widespread repression or attacks on their own people. Both regimes followed policies that were deeply unpopular domestically. In Iran, this led the revolution of 1979 which created an Islamic Republic. Could something similar happen in Pakistan?
http://watching-history.blogspot.com/2009/10/future-of-pakistan.html
That said, I see no reason Pakistan and India shouldn’t live together peacefully. They have much more in common with each other than with the west. Ignore the US and do what is to your own benefits. Even though the US might not like this, in the long term, it’s probably in everyone’s interest, even the US.
Singh: We Desire India and Pakistan to Live in Peace — as long as Pakistan lives to my rule.
At the same time, Mr. Singh said India “will press Pakistan”
We’ve had several examples of building walls between peoples over the past century. Berlin. The partition of Korea. The Iron curtain. Yugoslavia. The partition of India and Pakistan is another example, and possibly the most brutal in terms of attritable violence and death. When one looks at history, one thing seems quote apparent: the current status between India and Pakistan is unsustainable. One has to say, and I realise it would be heresey to many, that Jinnah’s concept that partition would work has never materialised. We’re fifty years on and it’s created more problems than it ever helped to solve.