Turning the clock back
Jamal Munshi Thailand
There is no solution to the Kashmir problem in the current context. It is the context that has to change. Recent developments have produced encouraging signs that perhaps the context can indeed be changed. The Muslim nation that was Pakistan has split into two. The three nations; India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh are not unlike the three groups of provinces that the British had proposed as Plan-A. The cold war between India andPakistan has thawed. One can now envisage that maybe, just maybe, the clock can be turned back. Incremental changes to the status quo can reverse the disaster produced by Plan-B and achieve something akin to Plan-A. By undoing in stages what Partition has wrought the two countries as partners rather than adversaries can quite likely achieve peace, prosperity, and increased leverage in global affairs. The co-operation will yield synergistic gains to both parties. It is a win-win proposition. These changes might begin with relaxation of travel restrictions. Pakistan and India might consider liberalising and simplifying their bilateral passport and visa regulations with the objective of encouraging cross-border tourism; something that has already been achieved by India and Bangladesh. The recent announcement by Tata Industries of India of their intent to invest $2 billion USD in Bangladesh is indicative of a significant capital flow potential among these countries that is waiting for the right conditions. Reform and liberalisation of laws governing cross-border capital and labour mobility along with an FTA will create a single economic entity of over 1.5 billion people. At that point it would serve their best interests for these countries to enter into a multilateral defence treaty. They may elect to hold joint military exercises and form joint rapid action battalions to defend the sub-continent from international crime and terrorism. If that happens the clock will have been turned back.
| 
