Broken ties between India and Pakistan – The Foundation supports a civil society dialogue

On the sidelines of the SAARC summit on April 29 the prime ministers of
Media commentators at the conference India and Pakistan met to discuss how to restart a dialogue process to build peaceful relations between the two countries. The Foundation along, with its partner Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation (CDR), supports this fragile process by organising dialogue forums for influential civil society actors. Talks between the two nuclear powers broke off after the catastrophic Mumbai attack in November 2008 in which 166 people were killed in India’s commercial capital. The lone surviving gunman, a Pakistani national, was sentenced on 6 May 2010. Indian public opinion, which had reacted positively to the meeting of the two prime ministers, was affected by the decision, as well as the reference to the Mumbai attack.

India-Pakistan dialogue conference in New Delhi
Indian & Pakistani officials at the conference


To bolster the bilateral dialogue a group of 27 eminent Indians and Pakistanis including members of Parliament, former chiefs of army staff, retired foreign secretaries and noted human rights activists met at a conference organised by the CDR in New Delhi. The conference was titled “Common Interests and a Common Future: Exploring an India – Pakistan Partnership” and marked the beginning of a three year project jointly funded by The Foundation and the EU. The high ranking civil society representatives from both countries discussed a range of topics from peace and security, to cooperating in Afghanistan, the role of the media, working out water issues, and the situation in Kashmir. The Indian media showed a major interest in the participants from Pakistan. This permitted the results of this closed door meeting to be announced publicly to a wider audience. In a common declaration

 

Consensus Statement &

 

A consensus statementthe participants pleaded that the bilateral dialogue has to lead towards substantial results now. While a deliberate war is not a feasible option with either of the two nuclear powers, but there still exists a danger of smaller conflicts emerging. Restraint needs to be exercised and channels of communications need to be kept open. Kashmir: Bone of contention between India & Pakistan According to one of the participants, “terrorists are aiming at destroying the relations between the two nations”. The governments from both the countries should, therefore try to formulate a way to overcome such plans, and find common ways to undermine the ability of terrorist groups to endanger the dialogue process. A central bone of contention between India & Pakistan is the Kashmir conflict. Ever since violence broke out in 1989 in the India administered part of Kashmir, the relationship between the people and the state owned institutions have been strained. The massive presence of military in the region considerably curtails the ability to people to protest in a non-violent manner. The participants from the state of Jammu & Kashmir reported that the setbacks experienced during the dialogue process between India and Pakistan caused a loss of hope among the people of the state that their situation could ever improve. In order to undercut of threat of the radicalisation of the youth, who could become involved in violent activities, the commencement of a serious dialogue is of utmost urgency.

overview